U.S. Checks Passengers, Cargo from Japan for Radiation

March 17th, 2011

Update: Low Levels of Radiation Detected on Passengers from Tokyo:

Radiation detectors at Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare airports were triggered when passengers from flights that started in Tokyo passed through customs, the New York Post reported.

Tests at Dallas-Fort Worth indicated low radiation levels in travelers’ luggage and in the aircraft’s cabin filtration system; no passengers were quarantined, the newspaper said.

—End Update—

Several countries are doing this now.

Via: Reuters:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Thursday that passengers and cargo arriving in the United States from Japan are being checked for radiation from the damaged Japanese nuclear power plants.

Napolitano told reporters at an unrelated event that the radiation checks were being done out of an abundance of caution and that no radiation has been detected.

Posted in Environment, Health, Surveillance | Top Of Page

One Response to “U.S. Checks Passengers, Cargo from Japan for Radiation”

  1. williamspd says:
    March 17, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    I really think that this nuclear issue is the sideshow here, set against the context of a massive earthquake and tsunami, and I can’t quite understand why the media are letting the nuclear story be the prominent one.

    I understand that it has more drama, we can watch it unfold and feel like we are in more of a position to do something about it (by taking action with respect to the nuclear power stations in our own countries), compared to the feelings of utter helplessness and powerlessness we get when watching parts of Japan reduced to matchwood and its people shivering and starving.

    I just feel like we are being distracted by the sideshow here, and deflected away from the real human tragedy.

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