Montgomery, AL – The Environmental Protection Agency says trace amounts of radiation from the damaged Japanese nuclear plant have shown up in Alabama.
The EPA says radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which was damaged during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, have been detected in air filters at monitoring sites in Alabama and eight other states and Pacific islands.
EPA spokeswoman Davina Marraccini said in a telephone interview with the Tuscaloosa News that the level detected in Alabama is slightly above the normal background level and well below health concerns.
Doug Neeley, chief of the EPA's Air Toxics and Monitoring Branch, says the amount of radiation detected is about what scientists expected to see.
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