I was alerted by a concerned relative that there are additional plumes being reported coming from the Fukushima site and that I may want to take some basic precautions. Thanks to Burning Man and earthquake preparedness, we're already in pretty good shape, but it did start a conversation about how much I should be concerned.
I haven't seen independent reports of this, and can't say whether it's really happening or another example of Fukushima causing a scare that turned out to be unfounded. If you are aware of something, please let me know.
Anyway, in the course of that conversation I revisited the question of how much radiation from Fukushima could reach the West Coast and if so what levels of leakage we should worry about. The short answer is that dilution across the Pacific ocean is expected to be massive enough that it's not a concern to us here; also apparently cesium doesn't bioaccumulate like mercury. For the poor people of Japan, however, this news would of course be another terrible blow.
In any case I had collected some info over the last couple years about this and found a new discussion. It was interesting to revisit, so I'm sharing.
Here is the latest report to raise concern. I have no sense for how reliable these guys are or are not.
