Japan Govt on “Maximum Alert”
The nuclear situation “continues to be unpredictable. [The government ] will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert,” Japan PM Naoto Kan said.
Plutonium Detected Outside Fukushima NPP
Traces of highly radiative plutonium have been detected in soil outside Fukushima NPP in half dozen locations, NHK quoted Japanese officials as saying.
The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said the radioactive traces may have come from the plutonium fuel in the damaged reactors. But they said the levels present were too small to pose a health risk.
Plutonium-239, the primary fissile isotope used as reactor fuel and for the production of nuclear weapons, is a reactor bred, highly radioactive heavy metal with a half-life of about 24,200 years.
Photo shows part of the wreckage caused by several explosions at Reactor No. 4, Fukushima Daiichi NPP, March 27, 2011. Source: Japan Ground Self-Defence Force/ via Kyodo/ via Reuters.
TEPCO said Monday that water found in a utility tunnel outside Reactor 2 was highly contaminated, emitting more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour.
Radioactive Iodine in Massachusetts
Trace amounts of radioactive iodine-131 believed to have originated from the quake-and-tsunami stricken Fukushima NPP have been detected in rainwater samples in Massachusetts, Reuters quoted state officials as saying.
The findings are consistent with similar occurrences in California, Ohio, Washington state and Pennsylvania, but do not pose any threat to drinking supplies, according to public health officials.
“The drinking water supply in Massachusetts is unaffected by this short-term, slight elevation in radiation,” said Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner.
“We will carefully monitor the drinking water as we exercise an abundance of caution,” he added.
Radio-active iodine has a short life of only 8 days and should not pose any risk to human health at the current levels detected in the U.S.
Fire Earth 