Harmless radiation could hit U.S. Friday, Atlanta March 28

The world is watching Japan, which, in the wake of a devastating earthquake, is trying to prevent the total meltdown of multiple nuclear reactors.

There was no perceptible health effect after Three Mile Island's 1979 partial meltdown. And Pennsylvania is a lot closer than Japan.

Escaping radiation from the plants has created an ever-widening evacuation zone.

Will radioactivity from the plants reach the United States? Yes, it appears so. It may even reach Atlanta, but the amount of radiation will be so tiny it won’t affect human health, according to U.S. officials.

“Basic physics and basic science tells us there really can’t be any harm to anyone here in the United States or Hawaii or any territories,” said Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Trace amounts will likely waft over the West Coast Friday, according to this New York Times animation.

WSB radio’s weather guru Kirk Mellish provides info on his blog that indicates the remnants of the radioactive plume could travel the 7,600 miles to Atlanta in 15.9 days.

That means it would be here March 28.

Despite expert opinion that the radiation will have no effect on public health, Americans have bought every Nukepill available.

“People are terrified,” said Alan Morris, president of Anbex Inc., of Williamsburg, Va., in The Washington Post. “We’re getting calls from people who are crying and saying things like, ‘Please. Can’t you help me? Can’t you send me anything?’ ”