'Radiation leak in Japan will not have impact on US’

There is a very low probability of the Japanese nuclear radiation leak, due to the devastating earthquake followed by tsunami, having any adverse impact on America, a top US nuclear official has said.

“Based on the type of reactor design and the nature of the accident we see a very low likelihood, really a very low probability that there’s any possibility of harmful radiation levels in the US or in Hawaii, or in any other US territories,” Mr Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told reporters at a White House news conference.

“Based on the information we have, we believe that the steps that the Japanese are taking to respond to this crisis are consistent with the approach that we would use here in the United States,” Mr Jaczko said, adding that the agency has been providing technical assistance to the Japanese Government as they are requesting.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dispatched two technical experts to Japan and is continuing to assemble a team of experts that would be dispatched in the near future, he said.

Mr Jaczko described the current situation in Japan with regard to the nuclear power plants that have been damaged as serious.

“It is a serious situation certainly in Japan. The efforts right now of the Japanese Government, with our assistance where they’ve requested it, is to continue to look for ways to provide the ability to keep the reactors cool,” he said, adding that the Japanese have asked for additional types of equipment that will help provide water and other resources to ensure that the rectors continue to be cool.

“The information about lack of any harmful impacts to the US is simply based on the nature of these reactors and the large distances, obviously, between those and any US territory.

So you just aren’t going to have any radiological material that by the time it travelled those large distances could present any risk to the American public,” the US official said.

Japan is a technically advanced nuclear country and they possess significant technical resources and capability on their own, Mr Jaczko said.

The two experts in Tokyo are providing assistance to both the US embassy as well an interface with the Japanese counterparts. “We continue to work to provide resources and assistance as we can,” he said.

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