LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Scientists collecting kelp from along the West Coast say there’s no sign of radiation contamination from the 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster.
Steven Manley, a marine biology professor at California State University, Long Beach, says the lack of detection should reassure people that the coastline is safe.
In 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake rocked Japan and crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant, leaking radiation into the Pacific.
Kelp act like sponges, absorbing different materials. But a study of kelp samples gathered from Alaska to Baja California earlier this year didn’t turn up any traces of radioactive material.
Researchers plan to repeat the experiment two more times this year.
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