Click here for the UC Berkeley radiation monitoring site
Two weeks ago when we were all freaking out expressing concern about radiation from the ill-fated Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan wafting our Bay-Area way via the Pacific Ocean, we posted these interviews with several scientists and health experts, all of whom assured us there was nothing to worry about, silly laypeople.
To which reader replies included this:
"Just show us actual Rad. Levels and we can make up our own minds. Show us real time hour by hour Rad Levels! not that i don't trust you, Yes I don't trust you."
EE Cummingsesque capitalization aside, point taken on the transparency issue. So... radiation watchers take note: from today's San Jose Mercury News:
Five thousand miles from Japan, UC Berkeley scientists don't have to read the headlines to know what is happening at a crippled nuclear power plant. They just need to glimpse at their computer screens.
There, a steady stream of data from Berkeley's air, rain and creekwater samples shows peaks and troughs of radioactive contamination -- posing no threat to Californians' health, but telling a tragic tale of Japan's struggle to contain the threat.
"We can find out what's going on just by looking at the radioisotope signatures," said research scientist Daniel H. Chivers, sitting at a laptop in the dark basement of the university's engineering building, where equipment for a routine class was quickly transformed after the accident into a sophisticated radiation detection system...
(T)he UC Berkeley team, led by nuclear engineering professor Kai Vetter, publishes its daily analysis on the department's website.
Did someone say website?