Japan radiation unlikely to reach US, say officials

The Australian ^ | 03/13/11 | Washington Desk

[MintyHippo1980]

ADIATION from nuclear plants damaged in Japan's earthquake is unlikely to reach US territory in harmful amounts, US nuclear officials say.

"Given the thousands of miles between the two countries, Hawaii, Alaska, the US Territories and the US west coast are not expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity," the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said in a statement.

"All the available information indicates weather conditions have taken the small releases from the Fukushima reactors out to sea away from the population," the statement read.

The office also said it sent two boiling-water reactor experts as part of a US Agency for International Development (USAID) emergency team helping respond to the crisis in Japan.

The NRC is coordinating with the US Department of Energy and other federal agencies in providing "whatever assistance the Japanese government requests" as they respond to conditions at several nuclear power plant sites following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the statement read.

Japan is battling a feared meltdown of two reactors at a quake-hit nuclear plant, in the wake of the disaster.

An explosion at the ageing Fukushima No 1 atomic plant blew apart the building housing one of its reactors on Saturday, one day after the biggest quake ever recorded in Japan unleashed a monster tsunami.

The emergency escalated as crews struggled to prevent overheating at a second reactor where the cooling system has also failed, and the government warned that it too could be hit with a blast.

[fireman15]

I’m not so worried about the radiation. It should dissipate. What bothers me more is that gut feeling that reminds me of the same feeling we all had after 9/11.

There is no question that the leftists/greenies/Obots will try to exploit this situation to further their agenda of destroying our economy by creating an artificial shortage of energy. Even if every one of the reactors in the plant melts down there still would be no credible threat to the West Coast. Lefties know that people freak out about radiation.

[DB]

I think the dangerous one is reactor #3. It partially uses plutonium for fuel. Plutonium does not decay quickly and is lethal in very small amounts. If one of the other reactors breaks containment, it will be very difficult to keep personal present to maintain the containment of the other reactors, in particular, reactor #3.