[RWebb]

saw some people asking about effects on the US - I doubt there is much (maybe avoid sushi from Japan?)

here is what I've abstracted from NYT & a few other sources so far...

radioactive materials found in the cooling water of a nuclear reactor:

radioactive nitrogen, N-16 - 1/2 life is only 7 sec. so risk only for plant workers and operators

Tritium, H - radiation emissions not travel very far in the air and cannot penetrate the skin


Greater Risk:

Iodine-131 - 1/2 life is 8 days; milk & milk products that are contaminated are a big risk and does accumulate in the body esp. thyroid; carcinogenic; very bad news re human health, but can be flushed from the body by using other I-compounds, e.g. KI -- main risk is to those within 10 miles of the reactor or its plume

cesium-137 - 1/2 life of 30 years - potentially, a large threat; could also bio-accumulate and maybe wind up in US food supplies; this is what still contaminates the Ukraine (Chernobyl) - hopefully, major parts of the small island of Japan will not suffer the same fate

IIRC, C-137 may accumulate in muscle tissue & the dust cannot be easily avoided; not sure as to how well it might travel in in ocean currents (either in the water, or in water-borne creatures)

if these latter 2 elements are detected then there has been some sort of breach of the reactor core
(not sure, but these 2 radionuclides might only be released if the core gets to either 1,000 oF [metal fuel rods] or 2,000 oF [ceramic U-fuel pellets])


don't forget (in all the excitement & hoopla) that coal fired power plants emit radioactivity too...