Peak of Fukushima radiation now moving to West Coast — Levels much higher than predicted — Huge red blob of nuclear waste near shore — San Francisco area being hit hardest — Concern over Iodine-129 with 15 million year half-life (MAPS)
ENENews
Feiro Marine Life Center, Apr 18, 2017 (emphasis added): Speaker Series: Studying Fukushima Radiation off the Coast of North America — The Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) project is a partnership between academic, government, non-governmental organizations, and citizen scientists to monitor the arrival of Fukushima-derived contamination, cesium-134 (t1/2 = ~2 years), cesium-137 (t1/2 = ~30 years), and iodine-129 (t1/2 = 15.7 million years) in the open Pacific and Arctic Oceans and North American coastal waters. In response to public demand, monitoring began in the fall of 2014, when models predicted the arrival of radionuclide contamination from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Monitoring efforts will capture the peak of the radionuclide contamination, predicted to occur in our waters… Contamination levels continue to be below levels that are known to represent a significant threat to human or ecosystem health.
Peninsula Daily News, Apr 28, 2017: Radiation from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster appears to have peaked off the West Coast of North America… Scientists already have seen contamination peak offshore and are now watching that apex move toward the coast, [Jay Cullen, a professor at University of Victoria's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences] said… Offshore, scientists are measuring seawater with up to 10 becquerels of Cesium-137 per cubic meter…
John N. Smith et al., Bedford Institute of Oceanography (Government of Canada), Nov 3, 2016: Transport of Fukushima Radioactivity to North America… Fukushima radioactivity levels continued to increase on Line P through 2015 with 137Cs levels increasing to 10 Bq/m3 compared to fallout background of 1.5 Bq/m3… In Feb. 2016 levels of 137Cs were still increasing over the shelf.