Total 131I concentrations peaked at 4 millibecquerel per m3 at European monitoring stations. Background levels in Europe are usually negligible

[...] Total 131I concentrations peaked at 4 millibecquerel per m3 at European monitoring stations. Background 131I levels in Europe are usually negligible. [...]

The European researchers also compared their measurements to computer models of how radioisotopes would travel around the globe from Fukushima. They found that the concentrations predicted by the models were lower than those detected at the monitoring stations.

Gerhard Wotawa of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics in Vienna, Austria, says these results show that researchers need to revisit the underlying physics in their models to improve predictions for the next nuclear emergency.

Dan Jaffe, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Washington, Bothell agrees: “I’d like to see this as an opportunity to ask, ‘how can we improve things?’”

[link to pubs.acs.org]