Aquarium Of The Pacific To Address Fallout Fears On Fukushima Anniversary

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Can swimming or surfing in waters off the Southern California coast expose beachgoers to dangerous levels of radiation from the Fukushima disaster?

Experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach plan to answer that question and others Wednesday, as well as provide an update using the latest measurements and data regarding the Fukushima nuclear accident on its fourth anniversary.

The Aquarium will present a live webcast with WHOI Senior Scientist Dr. Ken Buesseler and Aquarium President Dr. Jerry R. Schubel.

During the live interactive webcast the Aquarium will project data, including visualizations from NOAA, to illustrate and analyze the impact of the disaster around the globe.

A study published in December found that plumes of radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected off the coast of Canada and the California coastline, but in much lower levels than experts believe would pose a health threat.