Environmental Authority: No Chance of Radiation Reaching Estonia
The Environmental Board has issued a statement assuring the public that the radiation leaks at Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan will not impact Estonia.
The agency announced that it is constantly monitoring the situation, which it said is a local catastrophe and cannot extend to Estonia.
Ilmar Puskar, head of the Board's radiation department, reiterated that the incident is currently rated only a 4 on the INES scale, only the second most serious boiling-water reactor accident after Three Mile Island (a 5) and far below Chernobyl, which lacked the containment system of Fukushima.
The Environmental Board said that even if the fuel rods melted fully at Fukushima, it could only be assigned a 5 on the INES scale - an accident with extensive consequences.
After the third explosion at Fukushima in four days and fire resulted in the most sizeable radiation release, the Environmental Board radiation department is monitoring the situation around the clock and said it will inform the Rescue Board should any radioactive plume reach Estonia.
The authority has its own monitoring network of automatic stations in 10 spots in Estonia and three air filter stations for measuring radioactivity of airborne particles. It alerts the Environmental Board if levels exceed triple the natural background level.
According to the latest information on uudised.err.ee, the situation at Fukushima has been assigned a 6 on the INES scale.
Kristopher Rikken
