[Yaelle]

What can one do to protect kids, or what is the best way to minimize their exposure? I have kids both born and unborn and I am concerned about them, as the little ones are more susceptible to injury from radiation.

[steve86]

There really isn't anything you can do but the risk is very low or non-existent anyway. My family has been involved in the nuclear industry since the mid-40s in Los Alamos and at Hanford (where I live now). This is pretty minimal on the threat scale unless you live within a few tens of miles of the plant. Be careful not to cause more damage through stressing out — especially to the unborn — than the slight radioactivity ever would have.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I still have memories of my mom serving me hideous reconstituted Carnation Instant Milk after a Chinese open air N-bomb test. She had heard about the Iodine 131 getting into milk and would not serve us fresh milk for quite some time.

My guess is the levels from an above ground weapons test were many times higher than this Japan leak.