California seeing no radiation level increase

[Hannah Bell]

VIENNA/LOS ANGELES | Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:37pm EDT

VIENNA/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California air quality officials said on Friday they saw no elevated radiation levels on the U.S. West Coast from Japan's nuclear power plant disaster.

"At this point we're unable to verify if there are any elevated levels," said Ralph Borrmann, a spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in San Francisco. "We're not seeing it on our live data in California."

Earlier on Friday, diplomatic sources in Vienna said data showed tiny amounts of radioactive particles that were believed to have come from Japan's stricken Fukushima plant.

The level of radiation was far too low to cause any harm to humans, they said. One diplomat, citing information from a network of international monitoring stations, described the material as "ever so slight," consisting of only a few particles. "They are irrelevant," the diplomat added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-japan-quake-ctbto-radiation-idUSTRE72G26T20110318

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. None?

:hurts:
Media

[Hannah Bell]

3. you can follow readings yourself here:

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

most recent update: radiation levels are higher in denver than west coast. as they typically are.

i've been following this page for days. readings have typically been in the range of 17-37 cpm on the west coast stations.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. radiationnetwork.com convinced me

Aka: Don't bother your pretty, little head.

[Hannah Bell]

10. whatever. the site existed before the recent disaster, btw.

[Dappleganger]

14. That site is completely independent and not government run.

They've been around for awhile.

[HuckleB]

15. So you want things to be worse than they are?

:shrug:

[Dappleganger]

18. I noticed the readings in Denver, too...

why are they usually higher?

[Sirveri]

19. Altitude. Less air between them and the sun.

It could also be other reasons, certain places in Europe are high because of the amount of stone they use which has natural radioactivity. Some places in India because of pollution, not even nuclear pollution, just other stuff.

[Dappleganger]

20. Ah, thanks.

[DLnyc]

27. I think the soil in Colorado also has higher levels of natural radioativity.

Can't find the link right now, but I saw a map giving Colorado, southwest Arizona, southern Nevada and some other areas as higher background radiation from the ground.

[JDPriestly]

21. No reading for Southern California

[Hannah Bell]

26. it's an network of volunteers. sorry. but i think the other stations can give you

some indication of whether there's a rising trend.

which so far, there's not.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

2. "At this point we're unable to verify if there are any elevated levels"

unable to verify is not the same thing as verifying there is none.

[Hannah Bell]

7. independent monitors: follow it yourself.

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

i've been following for the last couple days.

west coast reading typically in the range of 17-37.

latest reading 1:21 3/18 =

vancouuver bc = 9

hanford washington = 41

northern cal = 29

sf cal = 29

counts per minute


within normal range, no different than last few days

readings are updated every 15 min or so

[kestrel91316]

4. Funny. The news this AM was full of reports that the radiation had arrived,

but that we weren't to worry our pretty little heads about the slight increase.

[kestrel91316]

5. Oh, BTW, a Viennese diplomat is probably not the best source for

informtion on radiation in Los Angeles.

[Hannah Bell]

8. "California air quality officials said on Friday"

and you can monitor independent stations yourself here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=683470&mesg_id=683564

[kestrel91316]

11. You don't read what you post, apparently:

"Earlier on Friday, diplomatic sources in VIENNA said data showed tiny amounts of radioactive particles that were believed to have come from Japan's stricken Fukushima plant.

The level of radiation was far too low to cause any harm to humans, they said. One DIPLOMAT, citing information from a network of international monitoring stations, described the material as "ever so slight," consisting of only a few particles. "They are irrelevant," the diplomat added."

[Hannah Bell]

16. it's you who said diplomats in vienna aren't the best source for california radiation levels.

i agree, & i didn't post the article for what the vienna experts say. the article begins with what the california officials said.

California air quality officials said on Friday they saw no elevated radiation levels on the U.S. West Coast from Japan's nuclear power plant disaster.


and checking with the independent monitoring link i find:

8:16 pm

vancouver bc: 14

hanford wa: 30

n. cal: 26

sf cal: 15

still no elevation from normal range, still wnl.

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

[DLnyc]

28. Being able to identify the presence of extremely low levels of radiation

fingerprinting Japan as the source could reasonably be distinct from being able to measure any significant increase in the ambient radiation level.

It would help if reporters would give actual numbers and units, but that seems to be too much to ask.

NHK, by the way, gives actual numbers and units.

[kestrel91316]

6. Oh, BTW, a Viennese diplomat is probably not the best source for

informtion on radiation in Los Angeles.

[somone]

12. "one-millionth of the dose rate a person receives from rocks, bricks, the sun and other natural

natural background sources..."

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/A765BAE82E458D3485257857007373A5
JOINT EPA/DOE STATEMENT: Radiation Monitors Confirm That No Radiation Levels of Concern Have Reached the United States
Release date: 03/18/2011

[jannyk]

13. Kick & Rec!

[HuckleB]

17. Good news, so far.

Thanks for posting.

[Blue-Jay]

22. Great. What am I supposed to do with all this fucking MILK?!?

[pintobean]

23. What to do with the milk?

[slay]

24. I would follow that up with a big fat - YET

and hopefully they won't see any excessive radiation.

but this shit is far from over according to well.. pretty much everyone. :(

[NHDemProg]

25. I hear some members here might put it to good use...

or some submarine captains could stock up on it. Bet those guys get thirsty after months under water.