PNRI: Harmful levels of radiation from Japan won't reach Phl

MANILA, Philippines -  Government scientists assured the public yesterday that harmful levels of radioactivity from Japan will not reach Philippine seas.

“The DOST-PNRI does not expect that harmful levels of radioactivity will reach Philippine waters,” said Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) deputy director Corazon Bernido.

“I would like to assure everyone that it is still safe to go swimming especially this coming summer when kids are on vacation,” she added.

A magnitude-9.0 earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami, hit Japan on March 11, killing thousands and damaging the nuclear power facility in Fukushima prefecture.                                                             

The radiation leak from the plant reached nearby countries but has so far did not have harmful effects.

Last Monday, Japanese authorities admitted the presence of high levels of radiation in water flooding the basement of the damaged nuclear reactor that might seep into the soil or out to the sea.                                

Bernido said the amount of radiation elements coming from the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remained low as of last Wednesday. Detected were 47 micro-becquerels per cubic meter of iodine-131, 2.6 Bq/m3 of cesium-134, and 3.1 Bq/m3 of cesium-137. As of 9 a.m. yesterday, radiation level in the country remained normal at 100 to 115 nanosieverts per hour. Bernido said the PNRI would continue testing the radiation levels in the environment and products imported from Japan.                                                

“We will continue with our tests but we don’t believe that we will find anything significant,” she said.

There are also fears that the wind blowing from Japan would carry radiation particles to the Philippines.        

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the wind pattern in Japan-which is expected to blow east toward the Pacific Ocean in the next three days-would not be directed to the Philippines.

“The wind pattern in northern Japan is still favorable to us... in terms of radiation dispersion it is not directed to the Philippines,” Pagasa acting administrator Nathaniel Servando said in a text message.                                    

He said the possibility of acid rain occurring in the Philippines is unlikely.                                              

“Rain becomes acidic when sulfuric oxide and nitrogen oxide react with water and oxygen in the atmosphere. Sources of sulfuric and nitrogen oxide are volcanic eruptions or from power generation due to the burning of fossil fuel,” Servando said.

“Nitrogen oxides can also be produced naturally by lightning strikes. In short, one main cause of acid rain is pollution rather than the nuclear radiation,” he added.