Radioactive Rain Forecast in Korea

Bad news...
Rain is forecast for tomorrow in Korea, and it may be laced with radioactive materials that emanated from the Fukushima reactors.

Until today, I was convinced that there was no reason to be concerned with radioactivity in Korea as a result of the disaster at the Fukushima power plant in Japan.  Radiation levels reported by the Integrated Environment Radiation Monitoring Network (IERNet) looked like normal background levels and, though radioactive materials likely to have been emitted at the Fukushima plant were detected in the air and in water in Korea, it was thought that this radiation travelled a long distance to get here, perhaps following a path around the north pole.  As a result, the detected quantities of radioactive material were very small and not expected to affect the environment, nor the drinking water supply. 

But Thursday, this may change.  It was announced that a spring-time weather pattern is going to cause an air current to flow south-westward out of Japan, and then north-eastward over Korea, bringing with it radioactive materials (see scan below).

The citation of the central article in the scan above is as follows:
Lee, Geunyeong.  (2011, April 5).  "'Radioactive material could be delivered directly to the Korean peninsula on the 7th of April'".  Hankyoreh, volume 3, number 7191, p. 1.
or in Korean:
이근영.  (2011년 4월 5일).  "'방사성물질, 7일 한반도 직접 유입될 수도'".  한교레, 3판, 7191호, 1면.

 
Today, it has already been reported that radioactive iodine and cesium have been detected in the air in Korea, in quantities larger than maximum acceptable human exposures published on the web-site of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.  Rainwater that fell on Korea a few days ago has also been found to contain the same isotopes, but in smaller quantities.  And, a Japanese newspaper published an article stating that, in the long term, the radiation from the Fukushima reactors will affect Korea, probably as much as it will affect the Japanese city of Osaka.

There has also been debate, during the last few days, about the quantity of radioactive material that will fall on Korea in tomorrow's rain, and this evening, an article arguing that it is unlikely that any such material will fall on Korea was published.  I expect to wake up to the sound of rain tomorrow morning.  Usually, the sound makes me feel nostalgic.  Tomorrow, I will be wondering if the rain is radioactive.



For information about radioactivity levels in Korea, consult the web-site of Integrated Environment Radiation Monitoring Network (IERNet).
For a good explanation of the different units used to measure radiation levels and quantities of radioactive materials, Benjamin Monreal of the University of California at Santa Barbara has made public an insightful presentation.  Just be aware that his analysis of the situation at the Fukushima reactors is now outdated.
Finally, the web-site of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has useful information about the ways in which humans can be exposed to radiation, as well as the Canadian maximum acceptable exposure levels for radioactive materials in air, drinking water, and food.