We noted 2 days after the Japanese earthquake [2] that radiation from Fukushima could end up on the West Coast of North America. And see this [3].
We started tracking the radioactive cesium released by Fukushima within weeks [4] of the accident.
In fact, U.S. nuclear authorities were extremely worried about the west Coast [5] getting hit by Fukushima radiation … but publicly said it was safe.
We reported that Fukushima radiation spread worldwide [6].
And we’ve documented for years that the failure to test the potentially high levels [7] of radiation hitting North America is a scandal [8].
Sadly, we were right to be worried …
The Journal Environmental Science & Technology – published by the American Chemical Society – reported [9] last year that airborne levels of radioactive cesium were raised by 100 to 1,000 times (what scientists describe as two to three “orders of magnitude [10]“):
Before the FDNPP accident, average 137Cs levels were typically of 1 ?Bq m−3 in Central Europe and lower average values (<0.3 ?Bq m−3) were characteristic of northern, western and southern Europe.
***
During the passage of contaminated air masses from Fukushima, airborne 137Cs levels were globally enhanced by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude.
Indeed, even hot particles and nuclear core fragments [11] from Fukushima were found to have traveled all the way to Europe.
The French government radiation agency – IRSN – released a video [12] of Fukushima cesium hitting the West Coast of North America. EneNews displays [13] a screenshot from the IRSN video, and quantifies the extreme cesium spikes:
- Cesium-137 levels in 2010: 0.000001 mBq/m³ of Cs-137 (blue writing)
- Cesium-137 levels in Mar. 2011: 1 to 10 mBq/m³ in Western U.S. (orange plume)
- Cs-137 levels increased 1,000,000 – 10,000,000 times after Fukushima
[14]
Levels on the West Coast were up to 500 times higher [15] than estimated. Cesium levels from Fukushima were higher than expected worldwide, including in the arctic region of Europe [16]:
[17]
[18]
Radioactive cesium bioaccumulates [19] in large fish and animals.
The radioactive half life of cesium 137 is usually 30 years [20]. But scientists at the Savannah River National Laboratory say that the cesium at Chernobyl will persist in the environment between 5 and 10 times longer – between 180 and 320 years [21].
And the Fukushima accident has pumped out some entirely new forms of radioactive materials … in “glassy spheres [22]“, buckyballs [23], ball-like spheres [24], and bound to organic matter [25]. Scientists don’t really know how long these new forms will last …
The Day Tokyo Got Blasted by Fukushima Radiation [26]
On March 15, 2011, the winds shifted …
The Fukushima radiation which had been blowing out to sea suddenly turned and hit Tokyo:
[27]
The image is a screenshot we took from a video [12] released by the French government radiation agency, IRSN.
As we’ve reported for over 3 years, Tokyo got nailed [28] by radiation. For example:
We knew what happened. Now we know when …