Radioactive isotopes detected on U.S. west coast | Kyodo News

Radioactive isotopes detected on U.S. west coast | Kyodo News: "Radioactive isotopes detected on U.S. west coast

LOS ANGELES, March 18, Kyodo

A very small amount of the radioactive substance xenon-133 was detected in California on Friday and its origin is believed to be the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, U.S. authorities said.

But the Environmental Protection Agency dismissed any concern about human health, saying in a statement that the levels of the isotope were ''one-millionth of the dose rate that a person normally receives.''

''The origin was determined to be consistent with a release from the Fukushima reactors,'' the EPA said. The reactors have suffered partial meltdowns and hydrogen explosions since the March 11 powerful earthquake.

Xenon-133 was detected at a monitoring station in Sacramento of the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization after some U.S. experts warned a tiny amount of radioactive substances could end up in U.S. territory after blowing over the Pacific.

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