Fukushima Radiation Data in Dispute as Idaho and National groups say different things

Mark Reinhardt- Boise

On March 11^th 2011 a 9.0 Earthquake struck the country of Japan.  As a result of that Earthquake, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was heavily damaged, causing, worldwide concerns about Radioactive Fallout. In a story posted on The Website of 670 KBOI it stated, “Idaho environmental officials say drinking water samples from around the state are testing radiation-free.  The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday that samples taken April 11 from municipal water systems show no evidence of elevated levels of radioactive iodine-131.” This was confirmed by EPA Seattle Regional Office Press Spokesman, Tony Brown, in which he said, “The only two EPA RADNET stations are located in Boise and Idaho Falls, ID.  Drinking water samples are collected from these two stations and the last detectable I-131 at these monitors was March 28th at a level 10x less than drinking water standards.”    

            This was confirmed by a Rad Net Lab spread sheet obtain from The Department of Environmental Quality. In which, it shows, a level of Radioactive Iodine-131 from 0.098% to 0.49%, in the air samples. Concerning precipitation, from April 4^th to April 8^th, the measurements had an increase from 232 Pico Curies a liter to 390 Pico Curies a liter. The average allowed Radiation measurement is 3 Pico Curies per liter in Drinking water. In a Press Release by Dr. Arjun Makhijani of The Institute of Energy and Environmental Studies, “Radioactive Iodine Releases from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Reactors may exceed those of Three Mile Island by over 100,000 times.” When asked about this to The EPA Seattle Office, the response was, “Daily summaries of RADNET data can be found at "www.epa.gov/japan2011". EPA will make decisions based upon future developments.” The IEER continued on by stating, “The French Radiation Protection Authority (IRSN) estimates the radioactive release of iodine-131 in Japan had reached about 2.4 million curies by March 22, 2011. To put it into perspective, a Pico Curie is One Trillionth of a curie. In which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said, “it would be six times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.” Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and The EPA has stated that there is no Public Health Concern at this time.

            In a Press Conference given to The Canadian Press on March 18, 2011 Australian MD, Dr. Helen Caldicott said of Fukushima, “Japan is by orders of magnitude many times worse than Chernobyl.” Adding that, ”The Emergency Diesel Generators which are as large as a house got destroyed by the tsunami.” When talking about of the lifespan of Iodine-131 in precipitation. EPA Seattle Office Spokesman Brown said, “EPA does not set standards for precipitation.  I-131 has a half-life of 8.1days.  Any levels in rainwater are short in duration.” However, this number is disputed by Dr. Caldicott who says, “Radioactive Iodine has a half-life of six weeks.” Advising people to get Potassium Iodide to protect themselves from Thyroid Cancer.

            The EPA has stated in an E-mail about the question of connection between, Precipitation and Drinking Water, “The MCLs apply only to drinking water; they do not apply to precipitation.   While concentrations of I-131 in some precipitation samples have been reported at levels greater than the drinking water MCL, EPA does not expect to see those levels detected in drinking water because of dilution in surface waters (lakes, rivers and reservoirs).”