Over the past 48 hours many people have contacted the City of Pacific and other entities concerning fears of radiation exposure from the Japanese nuclear plants. I was asked to write this to help calm those fears and empower our citizens with credible information.

I do not claim to be an expert in weather patterns or radiation exposure. However, over this past few years I have taken a lot of training concerning CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) events. Although the events in Japan might have severe and global economic impact, the chance for radioactive contamination is less than minimal. However, I do believe that knowledge is empowering, so I wanted to provide you with some links to help you feel a bit more comfortable with this threat, as minimal as it is.

First, some information about what is happening in Japan itself. As a result of the earthquake and tsunami, Japan has had severe impact on power generation and infrastructure. Because of this, the power is out for large portions of the country, including the nuclear facilities at Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo. At this plant, at least three of the reactors are impacted, two at crisis level.

Does this have the possibility of becoming the worst nuclear accident in history? Yes, but only because of the large number of people and industry this might impact.

Does it have the possibility of spreading radiation to the United States? Extremely unlikely, not only because of the 5,000-mile distance, but the fact that large amounts of radiation would need to get into the upper winds to even carry it away from Japan itself.

Cliff Mass, a well known and respected weather researcher from the University of Washington, posted on his weather blog a chart showing weather patterns and possibilities for radiation reaching North America. This blog can be found at cliffmass.blogspot.com.

As for risk from exposure to radiation, contamination is a factor of exposure, distance and time. With the radioactive material being more than 5,000 miles away, we have the distance. Contaminated particles have a tendency to break down over time, and the risk of exposure is extremely low.

As someone who has studied emergency managements, including CBRNE events, I am not at all concerned about any contamination here.

Finally I want to comment on another part of this disaster that talk radio seems to be focused on. The calmness and demeanor of the Japanese people. Japan has a culture of preparedness and is one of the world’s best prepared countries. People who are empowered are not ruled by fear, nor are they as likely to panic. This is why I stress emergency preparedness so much.

Over this next few weeks, the City of Pacific will be putting together a general preparedness class as well as classes in the incident command system.

Reach Richard Hildreth at 253-929-1108 or rhildreth@ci.pacific.wa.us. Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed Hildreth to represent Washington cities on the State Emergency Management Council.