2011-03-25

Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels

Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels and the reactors haven't exploded yet — and hopefully they won't.

Here's the first paragraph from a report on NewScientist:
Japan's damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Austrian researchers have used a worldwide network of radiation detectors – designed to spot clandestine nuclear bomb tests – to show that iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73 per cent of those seen after the 1986 disaster. The daily amount of caesium-137 released from Fukushima Daiichi is around 60 per cent of the amount released from Chernobyl.

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