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US West Coast to get Fukushima radioactive plume over next 3 years

Fukushima radioactive plume being tracked toward U.S. West Coast iStock Analyst CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 28 (UPI) — The radioactive plume from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster will reach U.S. shores within 3 years of the date of the incident, Australian researchers say.

Atmospheric radiation was detected on the U.S. West Coast within days of the incident, but radioactive particles in the ocean plume take considerably longer to travel the same distance…….

“Observers on the West Coast of the United States will be able to see a measurable increase in radioactive material three years after the event,” researcher Erik van Sebille said in an ARC release Wednesday…….
wo energetic currents off the Japanese coast — the Kuroshio Current and the Kurushio Extension — are primarily responsible for accelerating the dilution of the radioactive material to safe levels, the researchers said.

Other currents in the open ocean will contribute to this dilution process and direct the radioactive particles to different areas along the U.S. West Coast, they said.

“Although some uncertainties remain around the total amount released and the likely concentrations that would be observed, we have shown unambiguously that the contact with the north-west American coasts will not be identical everywhere,” researcher Vincent Rossi said.

August 29, 2013 - Posted by | general

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