UPDATE #4 ON JAPANESE REACTOR ACCIDENT
AND POSSIBLE WEST COAST USA FALLOUT
24 March 2011 - noontime
Over the last days our radiation recordings here at OBRL-Greensprings have been at normal levels. No increases in background nor isolated bursts have been recorded. The burst recorded on 18-19 March has not been repeated.
Meanwhile, we found another radiation monitoring network, this time from the EPA:
The recordings noted for Eureka, California are representative of what we have been getting:
You will note there are long stretches of normal low background, punctuated by small bursts every so often. Those can be from nuclear contamination, but in most cases are probably from cosmic-ray events. The findings on this offical web source parallel the two citizen-monitored sources, which I'll repeat again, here:
We are also in contact with a few independent laboratories in the West, making their own measurements of background radiation and rainwater or snow samples. So far everyone we know is reporting only normal background with the occasional small bursts of activity.
Monitoring continues, and will continue so long as the crisis in Japan warrants.
If we do not send out additional notices, it means the situation is normal.
Thanks for your interest.
James DeMeo, PhD
Director of OBRL