Low-flying helicopter will start mapping local radiation levels in Puget Sound next week
A helicopter will begin flying low over the Puget Sound region starting next week to measure the background radiation levels, the Washington State Department of Health has announced.
Photo of the Bell Helicopter that will perform the aerial survey.
The flyovers will start in Seattle and Bellevue before moving to other areas of King and Pierce Counties, including Tacoma.
During the Puget Sound flyovers, the helicopter will be based at Boeing Air Field and will make daily flights between July 11 and 28.
The helicopter will fly a grid pattern at an altitude of about 300 feet.
The measurements will be used to determine what normal radiation levels are various locations. The data will provide a baseline that can be used for comparison should there ever be a nuclear accident, the Department of Health said.
After the recent nuclear reactor accident in Fukushima, Japan, Japanese officials measured radiation levels in the surrounding area, but could not tell how elevated they were because they had no pre-accident measurements for comparison.
State radiation experts expect to find natural radioactivity and material produced by licensed radioactive material users such as hospitals, the Department of Health said.
After review, the results of the survey will be available to the public, the Department of Health said, though some information may be withheld for national security reasons. If levels of radioactivity are high enough to pose any health concern, the source will be investigated.
Department of Energy’s Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measurement System will conduct the flyover. The project, which the Washington State Department of Health is overseeing, has been in planning since 2009 and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
To learn more:
- Information about the project is available on the agency Aerial Radiological Survey website (www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/rep/aerial.htm).
Category: Disaster Preparation, Emergency Medicine, Injuries & Wounds, Poisoning & Environmental Health, Public Health
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