Monitoring radioactivity in Italy

ISPRA, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, has begun monitoring atmospheric particulates daily, with particular attention to the presence of the isotopes of Cesium-137 and Iodine-131. Up to date, no “anomalies” have been recorded, when compared to the readings taken before the Fukushima accident. Furthermore, ISPRA has declared that due to the directions of the winds, the dispersion of the radioactive cloud from the Japanese power plant has prevalently regarded the eastern and north-eastern area, towards the Pacific Ocean and the United States. In their movement the masses of air gradually spread out and the initial radioactive content is impoverished, therefore it is believed that, when these reach Europe, the concentration of radioactivity will be extremely low, and may be considered irrelevant from a radiological point of view.