Senior Scientist: Fukushima radiation already on West Coast of N. America — We don’t know how much is coming or how fast it’s moving, situation ‘evolving’ — Levels will continue to rise for years — Unprecedented event for Pacific, largest ever radioactive release into ocean (VIDEO)
ENENews
Center for Marine and Environmental Radiation, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Emphasis Added): The release of radioactive contaminants from Fukushima remains an unprecedented event for the people of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. [...] Some Fukushima radiation has already begun to appear on the West Coast of North America and is expected to peak in most places between 2014 and 2015. [...] continued leaks from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant [...] sparked fears of wide-ranging impacts to the marine ecosystem and human health. Despite concerns, there is no U.S. government agency monitoring the spread of low levels of radiation from Fukushima along the West Coast and around the Hawaiian Islands—even though levels are expected to rise over coming years. Whether you agree with predictions that levels of radiation along the Pacific Coast of North America will be too low to be of human health concern or to impact fisheries and marine life, we can all agree that radiation should be monitored [...]
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Jan. 14, 2014 (Emphasis Added): Although [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution marine chemist Ken] Buesseler does not expect levels to be dangerously high in the ocean or in seafood as the plume spreads 5,000 miles across the Pacific, he believes this is an evolving situation that demands careful, consistent monitoring to make sure predictions are true. “I’m particularly excited about finding support for sampling key locations along the West Coast multiple times throughout the coming two years, because radioactivity levels are expected to be increasing,” he says.
Crowdsourcing Fukushima, Jan. 14, 2014 (Emphasis Added): [...] It’s become the largest accidental source of radioactive isotopes to the ocean in history. […] We know there’s contaminated water coming out of there even today […] What we don’t really know is how fast and how much is being transported across the Pacific. Yes, models tell us it will be safe, yes the levels we expect off the US West Coast and Canada we expect to be low, but we need measurements — especially now, as the plume begins to arrive along the West Coast and will actually increase in concentration over the next 1 to 2 years. Despite public concern about the levels, no public agency in the US is monitoring the activities in the Pacific. […] Without careful, extensive, consistent monitoring, we’ll have no way of knowing how much radiation from Fukushima is reaching our shores, and how it could affect life in the ocean […]
Watch the message from Buesseler here
Published: January 15th, 2014 at 9:10 pm ET
By ENENews
