March 29, 2011
By Jonathan Benson
(NaturalNews) Several nuclear power plants in the southeastern US have begun to detect low levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the air, which is the same type of radiation now being found all over the place as a result of the mega-earthquake and tsunami that struck the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan on March 11, 2011. Reuters has indicated that power plants in both North and South Carolina, as well as one in Florida, have all detected what they say are "low levels" of the non-native radioactive substance.
"If there were radiation coming from one our own sites, we would be seeing other types of radiation than iodine-131," said Drew Elliot, a spokesman for Progress Energy. "Other nuclear stations throughout the East Coast all started picking this up within the last week. It all points to something coming from overseas. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) both say it poses no threat to public safety."
Progress Energy's Hartsville, SC, plant and Crystal River, Fla., plant both detected what the company says are low levels of radioactive iodine-131. And Duke Energy's two plants in South Carolina, as well as its plant in Huntersville, NC, all reported levels of the non-native radioactive substance as well. Read More
