Information junkies can now monitor radiation levels throughout the U.S., updated every minute at the Radiation Network. The fine print says the Alaska monitor, in Anchorage, is located indoors.
Your interest may be amped by conflicting reports today about Japan's nuclear woes. The Vancouver Sun begins "One of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant did sustain a nuclear meltdown, Japanese officials admitted for the first time on Thursday, describing finding a pool of molten fuel at the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel." The NYT puts these facts midway through their brief article -- "That indicated that the exposed fuel has probably melted and slumped to the bottom of the vessel in little pellets" -- and avoids using the term meltdown other than to report the plant did not sustain a "full meltdown." The reporter emphasizes the upbeat, quoting a scientist David Lochbaum from "a nonprofit group usually critical of the nuclear industry," saying, "As bad as things are, they’re getting better." Tepco had earlier said it would take six to nine months to bring the plant under control; now, it will be longer.
Yesterday Greenpeace released a study finding 10 of the 22 seaweed samples they collected 40 miles from the stricken plant contain up to five times the legal limits of Iodine-131 and Caesium-137. Seaweed is a staple of the Japanese diet and the annual harvest begins next Friday.
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