Offering a few other opinions. I don't see how the radiation levels are being reviewed when there are only a few spots around doing the monitoring. You can tell that most of the West coast doesn't believe that the radiation is insignificant. I don't think we've had it around long enough to really know, kind of like vacinations. Who really knows the long term affects?
Here's one little part of the following article: FIRST WARNING SYSTEM: The first warning systems along North America's West Coast are not properly equipped. They currently have no 'noble gas monitoring' capability and have too little coverage. Washington State, for example, has only 4 EPA stations. It is crucial to understanding this because official statements from experts about your exposures in the following days and weeks will sound reassuring and convincing but these statements are as weak as the deficiencies in radiation warning systems. http://www.idealist.ws/index.php#i131 If that doesn't scare you the following will. It's about the testing of back up systems for nuclear disasters: http://www.truth-out.org/tokyo-electric-build-us-nuclear-plants-the-no-bs-info-japans-disastrous-nuclear-operators68457 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@...> wrote: > > Excellent resource for information about the > Japan nuclear crisis at the Web site All Things > Nuclear, the blog of the Global Security Program > at the Union of Concerned Scientists (see more > about UCS at the end of this post): > > http://allthingsnuclear.org/ > > Among other things, it has posted this statement > by the Union of Concerned Scientists about > potassium iodide pills: > > ----- > The people of Japan should be given priority > access to potassium iodide (KI) pills used to > protect against thyroid cancer following > inhalation of radioactive iodine. > > Given the fact that Japan is thousands of miles > from the United States, it is highly unlikely > that Americans would be exposed to radioactive > iodine from direct inhalation of a plume from > the Fukushima nuclear complex. Direct inhalation > is the kind of exposure that potassium iodide > pills would be most effective against. > > Regardless, there are reports that global > supplies of potassium iodide pills are being > depleted because Americans are buying them, > prompting fears that there will not be adequate > supplies in Japan in the event of a larger > radiological release. > > Besides inhalation, another way Americans could > be exposed to radioactive iodine is if > agricultural products were contaminated. > Radioactive iodine could be ingested by dairy > cows, for example, and then would be > concentrated in milk. Potassium iodide, however, > would not be an effective countermeasure in that > situation. Moreover, federal and state health > authorities would test for such contamination > and could take products off the market if > necessary. > ----- > > http://allthingsnuclear.org/tagged/Japan_nuclear > > If you're inclined to pooh-pooh the Union of > Concerned Scientists as just another > Establishment group, you might find what various > critics have said about it of interest: > > "The most vocal critics of the Union of > Concerned Scientists assert that the > organization harbors a liberal 'pro-regulation, > anti-business' agenda. In 2004, the conservative > media watchdog Media Research Center called the > UCS an 'unlabeled left-wing activist group'; in > 2007, the watchdog's founder L. Brent Bozell > reiterated this assertion. In 2009, the > conservative website NewsMax described the UCS > as a 'left-wing' organization that 'receives > substantial donations from liberal-leaning > foundations.' Libertarian author and television > personality John Stossel has also accused the > organization of having a 'left-wing' agenda. > > "In 2006, two physicists associated with the > American Physical Society criticized the UCS for > not supporting a government-run nuclear waste > reprocessing program. The UCS has also been > criticized by skeptics of global warming. In > 2007, the conservative think tank Capital > Research Center accused the UCS of waging a > 'jihad against climate skeptics', and > televangelist Jerry Falwell even cautioned > Evangelical Christians against 'falling > for...global warming hocus-pocus' propagated in > the mass media, with the UCS 'leading the > charge'." > > Dunno about anybody else, but any organization > criticized by NewsMax as having a "liberal 'pro- > regulation, anti-business' agenda" is OK with me. > > Another source I don't suspect of siding with > the Establishment is Boing Boing, which has this > thoroughly researched post on radiation levels > in the U.S.: > > http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/17/four-questions-about.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29 > > http://tinyurl.com/4bv8w7f >
