Above Japan nuclear plant is a no-go for US Navy (100 nautical mile radius)

[jpak]

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1104ap_as_japan_quake_no_fly.html

JINMACHI AIR BASE, Japan -- The U.S. Navy is keeping all but critical missions from flying through a wide stretch of airspace above Japan's overheating nuclear plant - an even larger area than the U.S. government has recommended that Americans avoid on the ground.

The air cordon is intended to ensure safety and keep routine flights from passing through potentially hazardous airspace, Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, said Friday.

It's not a complete ban, with specific missions still being carried out inside a "heightened awareness zone," Davis said. U.S. aircraft are conducting flights to measure radiation coming from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, where reactors and fuel storage pools began overheating after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems.

The restricted zone covers a radius of 100 nautical miles - or about 115 miles or 185 kilometers - above the Fukushima plant. The area is more than twice the 50-mile (80-kilometer) radius the U.S. government has urged Americans to avoid on the ground, which in turn is larger than the area where the Japanese government says people should either leave or stay indoors to prevent radiation exposure.

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[bananas]

1. That's a lot larger than the 30km no-fly zone established by Japan. nt

[jpak]

2. They probably know more than we do about the plume aloft - and Sunday will be the crisis day

when winds bring the plume inland