Going nuclear

Fallout from Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis

By Culinate staff

April 11, 2011

By the end of March, nuclear fallout from Japan’s earthquake-damaged nuclear plants had reached North America. Detectors picked up low levels of radioactive isotopes on the West Coast of the U.S. in rainwater and cow's milk. (Global businesses that rely on Japanese foodstuffs are also anxious, especially of seafood after Japan dumped thousands of tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.) But should you panic about your water quality? Stop buying milk? Most public-health authorities have told consumers not to fret. Still, the world is watching to see how much worse the nuclear crisis can get.