Japan: US to deploy radiation monitoring gear in Japan, Hawaii, Pacific territories

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Congress on Wednesday that the DoE is attempting to place radiation monitoring equipment in Japan.

The detection system is part of the 17,200 pounds (7,800 kg) of equipment and 39 personnel from the Energy Department sent to Japan, Chu said. The department has also provided equipment to monitor airborne radiation, Chu said.

And separately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted a brief notice on its website yesterday of plans to "work with its federal partners to deploy additional monitoring capabilities to parts of the western U.S. and U.S. territories."

A Democratic Congressional aide on Wednesday told Reuters that additional monitors will be dispatched to the Aleutian Islands, Guam, a U.S. territory, and the state of Hawaii. These monitors will augment the more than 100 monitors already in place in all 50 U.S. states, according to the aide, who asked not to be identified.

(Reuters)