Passengers arriving this week on a flight from earthquake-and tsunami-ravaged Tokyo set off radiation detectors at O’Hare Airport, city officials acknowledged Thursday.
from the Chicago Sun Times
“We are aware that occurred [Wednesday]. We are working with Customs and Border Protection on this issue,” Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino said, referring all questions to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
O’Hare was apparently not the only city where arriving Tokyo passengers set off radiation detectors because of an impending nuclear disaster in Japan.
This is not particularly surprising news and it shouldn't make us all panic. Obviously Homeland Security owes Americans an honest and prompt explanation of what is going on. It's an interesting development further reinforcement for all of us in the US to make sure nuclear power is reassessed.
To that end I want to recommend supporting the organization Beyond Nuclear. I heard from them 3 days ago the information regarding the spent fuel rods long before the news started trickling out from the other media outlets, corporate or not. Thom Hartmann interviewed them at that time.
UPDATED from the Cincinnatti CBS affiiliate
(CBS/AP) CHICAGO - Trace amounts of radiation brought over by airline passengers from Japan has been detected in Chicago, CBS News station WBBM-TV reports.
"We are aware of the radiation," said Chicago Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride. "We are adding screenings and precautionary measures."
Flights coming in from Japan are bringing very small amounts of radiation, setting off alarms. Radiation detectors have been triggered at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and elsewhere. In one instance, it was detected in a plane's cabin air filtration system.
The news comes as the Department of Homeland Security announced it was screening passengers and cargo entering the United States from Japan for "even a blip of radiation," the Associated Press reports. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that no harmful levels of radiation have reached the U.S. since the nuclear crisis in Japan sparked by last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Customs and Border Protection, which monitors ports, routinely screens passengers and cargo for radiation. Agents have been advised this week to pay particular attention to arrivals from Japan.
Napolitano said the screening of passengers and cargo is being done "in an exercise of caution." The agency handles more than half a million radiation alarms a year, though most are related to medical procedures.