A SERIOUS NUCLEAR INCIDENT THAT FOLLOWED FRIDAY'S CATASTROPHIC JAPAN EARTHQUAKE HAS RAISED FEARS OF RADIATION LEAKAGE, A WEATHER-DEPENDENT MATTER THAT COULD HAVE A FAR-REACHING IMPACT.
WERE THERE TO BE A SIGNIFICANT RELEASE OF RADIATION, TRACKING THE FALLOUT WOULD BECOME A METEOROLOGICAL PROBLEM.
JAPAN LIES IN THE MID LATITUDES OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, AS DOES THE UNITED STATES.
LIKEWISE, ITS WEATHER IS DOMINATED BY PREVAILING WESTERLY WINDS, BUT WITH SIGNIFICANT VARIATION NEAR THE EARTH SURFACE. EXACTLY WHERE A HYPOTHETICAL "RADIATION CLOUD", FROM EITHER FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI OR ONAGAWA, WOULD GO SHOULD DEPEND UPON THE WEATHER PATTERN AT THE TIME OF, AND FOLLOWING, THE RELEASE.
MOREOVER, IT SHOULD DEPEND UPON HOW HIGH THE CLOUD ROSE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS IS BECAUSE THE WINDS NORMALLY VARY WIDELY BETWEEN THE NEAR-SURFACE AND THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE, HOME TO THE EASTWARD-FLOWING JET STREAM.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, ANY RADIOACTIVE CLOUD RISING SIGNIFICANTLY INTO THE ATMOSPHERE WOULD TRAVEL ESSENTIALLY EASTWARD AND NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN, EVENTUALLY REACHING NORTH AMERICA ANYWHERE BETWEEN ALASKA AND CALIFORNIA.
THE PRECISE DETAILS AS TO TIMING AND PATH TAKEN WOULD DEPEND UPON THE STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE TIME OF THE HYPOTHETICAL RADIATION RELEASE.
ALTHOUGH SUCH A CLOUD WOULD POSE VIRTUALLY NO THREAT WHILE IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE, THE FALLOUT AT THE GROUND OF RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES FROM IT SHOULD BE A CONCERN FOR ANY MONITORING AUTHORITY.
A HYPOTHETICAL RELEASE OF RADIATION STAYING NEAR THE GROUND WOULD BE SUBJECT TO LOW-LEVEL WINDS, WHICH ARE MORE PRONE TO VARYING.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN AREA WINDS BLOW ON SHORE, AND A HYPOTHETICAL RELEASE AMID A SETTING OF ONSHORE WIND WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY BE OF GREAT CONCERN TO AUTHORITIES IN JAPAN.
FOLLOWING FRIDAY'S MAJOR EARTHQUAKE EAST OF JAPAN, FEARS WERE RAISED OF RADIATIONS LEAKS AND NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS AT POWER PLANTS.
RADIATION WAS REPORTED TO BE LEAKING OVER THE WEEKEND FROM THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT FROM ONE OF THE REACTORS THAT HAD LOST ITS COOLING SYSTEM.
CNN REPORTS THAT A COOLING SYSTEM OF A SECOND REACTOR AT THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT FAILED ON SUNDAY, FORCING OFFICIALS TO EXPAND THE EVACUATION ZONE OF SURROUNDING RESIDENTS FROM 10 KM TO 20 KM (6 MILES TO 12 MILES).
COMPLICATING MATTERS, A SECOND HYDROGEN EXPLOSION OCCURRED AT THE PLANT EARLY MONDAY. FRIDAY'S QUAKE AND TSUNAMI DAMAGED TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS AT A POWER PLANT IN THE PREFECTURE, AND AT LEAST ONE OF THEM APPEARED TO BE GOING THROUGH A PARTIAL MELTDOWN, RAISING FEARS OF A RADIATION LEAK.
A STATE OF EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED ON SUNDAY AT A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN ONAGAWA, JAPAN, AS WELL.
EXCESSIVE RADIATION LEVELS HAVE BEEN RECORDED FOLLOWING FRIDAY'S EARTHQUAKE, ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS' ATOMIC WATCH-DOG AGENCY.
THREE REACTOR UNITS AT THE ONAGAWA PLANT ARE BEING WATCHED AND CONTROLLED FOR RADIATION LEAKS AND POSSIBLE MELTDOWN.
THE WIND DIRECTION MAY IMPACT WHERE THE RADIATION GOES BOTH AT A LOCAL LEVEL AND EVEN ACROSS THE GLOBE. THE WIND DIRECTION AT BOTH OF THESE LOCATIONS ARE SIMILAR SINCE THE ONAGAWA POWER PLANT IS LOCATED JUST TO THE NORTHEAST OF FUKUSHIMA POWER PLANT.
"THE EXACT DIRECTION OF THE WINDS WOULD HAVE TO BE KNOWN AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE OF A LARGE AMOUNT OF RADIATION TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHERE THE RADIATION WOULD GO," ACCORDING TO EXPERT SENIOR GLOBAL METEOROLOGIST JIM ANDREWS.
IT IS UNKNOWN WHEN A LARGE RELEASE OF RADIATION WOULD OCCUR, IF AT ALL, AT THIS POINT. "YOU CAN CALCULATE HOW LONG THE RELEASE OF A RADIATION WOULD TAKE TO CROSS THE PACIFIC FROM JAPAN TO THE U.S. BY CHOOSING DIFFERENT SPEEDS THAT THE RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES MIGHT BE MOVING AND USING THE DIRECT DISTANCE BETWEEN GIVEN LOCATIONS- SAY SENDAI, JAPAN, AND SEATTLE, WASH.," ANDREWS ADDED.
HOWEVER, EVEN THAT CALCULATION MAY NOT REFLECT HOW LONG THE PARTICLE WOULD TAKE TO CROSS THE PACIFIC, SINCE IT WOULD NOT LIKELY CROSS THE OCEAN IN A DIRECT PATH. THIS IS THE CASE BECAUSE THE WIND FLOW IS OFTEN A COMPLICATED PATTERN.
A TYPICAL WIND TRAJECTORY ACROSS THE PACIFIC IS WESTERLY, SINCE THERE IS OFTEN A LARGE DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE CENTRAL PACIFIC AND AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE GULF OF ALASKA.
ANY STORM SYSTEMS MOVING ACROSS THE PACIFIC WOULD ADD KINKS IN THE WESTERLY FLOW THAT WOULD MAKE THE PATH OF A PARTICLE CROSSING THE PACIFIC LONGER. "IN OTHER WORDS, IT WOULD BE A VERY INTRICATE AND DIFFICULT CALCULATION," SAID ANDREWS. "WE ARE GETTING INTO THE TIME OF YEAR WHERE ONSHORE WINDS OCCUR MOST OFTEN," SAID ANDREWS.
THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS, SINCE AN ONSHORE DIRECTION WOULD BLOW MOST OF THE RADIATION TOWARD POPULATED AREAS.
AN ADDED THREAT IS THAT WITH HIGHER ELEVATIONS JUST ABOUT 4 MILES INLAND FROM THE POWER PLANTS, IF A TEMPERATURE INVERSION SETS UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE, RADIATION COULD BE TRAPPED.
AUTHORITIES HAVE WARNED RESIDENTS TO KEEP WINDOWS AND DOORS CLOSED AND AIR-CONDITIONING FANS SWITCHED OFF TO ELIMINATE THE INTAKE OF AIR FROM OUTSIDE.
CALCULATED TIME FOR RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES TO CROSS THE PACIFIC FROM THE POWER PLANTS IN JAPAN TO BIG WEST COAST CITIES IF THE PARTICLES TAKE A DIRECT PATH AND MOVE AT A SPEED OF 20 MPH:
CITIES EST. DISTANCE (MILES) EST. TIME TO CROSS PACIFIC (DAYS)
ANCHORAGE 3,457 7
HONOLULU 3,847 8
SEATTLE 4,792 10
LOS ANGELES 5,477 11
Collected by
Milind Phadke
+919890317557
