Radioactive traces from the crippled Japanese nuclear plant in Fukushima have been found in water in the Canadian city of Vancouver.


Apr 5, 2011 2:34 PM By Sapa

But the levels were extremely low, according to the Canadian Health Ministry and well-known experts in the Pacific province of British Colombia.

"Levels of radioactive Iodine-131 rose seven days after the reactor accident in Fukushima, but have dropped considerably since then," Kris Starosta, a nuclear researcher at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Following the highest level of 12 bequerel per litre (bq/1) recorded on March 20, the latest analysis taken on March 29 showed a level of 3.4 bq/1.

"That is well below the Canadian norm of 10 bq/1," said Starosta.

Starosta's findings were confirmed by Professor Jens Dilling, a German nuclear physicist at Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics in Vancouver.

"Radioactivity from Japan has at no time presented a danger to health," Dilling said. "A visit to the dentist where a couple of X- rays are taken means a greater exposure to radiation."

(Editor's Note: This article was found in the South African online news Times Alive.)

Link: http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article1004645.ece/Japanese-radiation-in-Canadian-water