"Negligible" radiation from Japan nuclear power plant detected in B.C.


Trace amounts of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have drifted across the Pacific Ocean.


By Stephen Hui, March 22, 2011
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is stressing that radiation originating from an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant in Japan poses "no health risk" to people in British Columbia.

In a Monday (March 21) update on its website, the centre confirmed that it had been told by Health Canada that "minute" amounts of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi plant were detected by monitoring stations in the province.

"The amounts of radiation from Japan detected over the past few days in BC measure 0.0000005 millisieverts, which is significantly less than those coming from other sources," Monday's update stated.

"Scientists measure exposure to ionizing radiation using a unit of measurement called a sievert. The average Canadian is exposed to between 2 and 3 millisieverts of radiation annually from background radiation."

Today (March 22), the centre said in an update: "Health Canada anticipates that the quantity of radiation reaching Canada, would be negligible and not pose a health risk to Canadians. We are expecting very slight increases in radiation, smaller than the normal day to day fluctuations until a week after the reactors are stabilized."