Japan 2011 US National Radiation Monitoring

Northwest Area Committee MeetingJune 29, 2011C. Terada, EPAJapan 2011US National Radiation Monitoring

Japan 2011A 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 Due to infrastructure damaged, the plant suffered equipment failures and the loss of cooling that resulted in radiological releases into the atmosphere and adjacent marine waters.All attempts to cool the reactors were made

US Response

Nuclear experts and response team from the Dept. of Energy, Department of Defense and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission went to Japan to support their nuclear safety and public protection efforts All federal agencies with responsibility in public health, nuclear safety, transportation, food, and agriculture are fully engaged in monitoring the events to evaluate the possibility of environment or health impacts in the U.S. US National Radiation MonitoringEPAs MissionNational monitoring of radiation particles in the atmosphere from the Fukushima Daiichi Plants Coordinate and provide technical assistance to the other public health, nuclear safety, transportation, food, and agriculture agenciesProvide risk communication to the US population

EPA EffortUtilize EPA's existing RadNet monitoring program to monitor fluctuations in background radiation levels; Deploy additional monitors (deployable units) to fill in data gaps and areas where atmospheric dispersion expected: Aleutian Islands, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan;Deployable units were also deployed to areas where fixed RadNet units were inoperable, e.g., Boise, Anaheim

EPA Region 10 Effort

Fixed RadNet Units:Alaska (Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage)Idaho (Boise)Oregon (Portland, Corvallis)Washington (Olympia, Spokane, Richland)Deployable Units:Alaska (*Dutch Harbor, *Nome, *Juneau)*Boise Monitoring ProcessAll deployable units had filters changed out and sent daily to EPAs National Air & Radiation Environmental Lab (NAREL) in Montgomery, Alabama for analysis;Quarterly RadNet milk, rain water, and drinking water samples also sent to NAREL for analysisProcessed data sets sent to EPA HQ for QA/QCFinal data sets sent to EPA Regions for State distributionFinal data sets also posted to the EPA Japan 2011 and EPA EnviroFacts websites

7Comparing Chernobyl Data to Current Event DataHighest I-131 in milkHighest I-131 in AirHighest I-131 in RainChernobyl 1986136 pCi/L Spokane1.6 pCi/m3 Boise & Phoenix6,620 pCi/L SpokaneJapan 201118 pCi/L Hilo, HI0.84 pCi/m3 Boise390 pCi/L BoiseChernobyl accident occurred April 26, 1986 and EPA first detected radioactivity from the incident on May 4, 1986 (Portland, OR)Activity on air samples peaked in May, decreased through June, and back to normal by July, 1986 8Current SituationAll EPA personnel manning deployable units have been demobilizedAll deployable units have been demobilized, except for 2 units staged in Anchorage, AKInformation coordination with locals, States, and other elected officials being conducted90-day review of the national RadNet program with opportunity to provide feedback

EPA Commitment Since the events in Japan occurred, EPAs website has had thousands of views and we have received many positive comments from the public on the information we have made available. The Agency will continue to provide monitoring results to the public in a very open and transparent manner. While we do not expect radiation from the damaged Japanese reactors to reach the United States at harmful levels, I want to assure you thatEPA will continue our coordination with our federal partners to monitor the air, milk, precipitation and drinking water for any changes, and we will continue our outreach to the public and the elected officials to provide information on our monitoring results. Administrator Lisa P. JacksonFor more information and updates

FAQs on Japan Nuclear Emergency www.epa.gov/japan2011/japan-faqs.html

Summary of monitoring results www.epa.gov/japan2011/rert/radnet-data-map.html

Summary of laboratory resultswww.epa.gov/japan2011/rert/radnet-sampling-data.html

The Bottomline: The levels detected are far below levels of concern