Traces of radiation from Japanese nuclear reactors found in Illinois
By Dave McKinney Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief dmckinney@suntimes.com
SPRINGFIELD — Trace amounts of radioactive material linked to Japan’s nuclear catastrophe have turned up in grass clippings in Will County and in a Springfield air sample, state officials disclosed Wednesday.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency described the levels detected as “minute” and stressed they posed no threat to the public, noting they were 200,000 times below levels acceptable for nuclear power effluent.
“These findings are not surprising since traces of iodine have been identified in at least 15 other states,” IEMA Director Jonathon Monken said in a prepared statement. “These levels are very low and present no hazard to people in Illinois.”
The Will County grass clippings were obtained by the state during an emergency drill last week for the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, while the air samples were collected at IEMA’s radiochemistry lab in the capital.
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