Traveling to the Philippines

[igonaway]

Hi, everyone... so glad I found this forum... I am a frequent diver of the Philippines' waters; I love the country, the people, and the marine life under the water there.
This year I am being asked to lead a trip there for the Tourism people. Before I make
a commitment, I want to do some research about the danger from radiation leaked into the water from the Japan reactors (which they are starting to be quite concerned about) and how much, if any, has made its way SW to the Philippines. It's almost too early for this kind of information to be available, but I wanted to ask my fellow divers what they've heard. Thank you so much.

Igonaway

 

[Kilili]

Bottom line is don't worry about this. Attack anemonefish are more of a problem.

 

[Ragnar]

Here in Guam probably 90% of our tourism is from Japan and while the numbers are somewhat down things are pretty much normal. Tell them to stop watching the sensationalized US news and get on the airplane. I'll be diving there next week, if my hair starts falling out I'll let ya know

 

[DevonDiver]

PNRI: Still no upsurge in radiation levels | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

Philippine gov't officials more confident by the day

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine radiation experts are growing confident by the day that radiation plumes from the nuclear accident in the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan will not affect the Philippines.
Philippine National Radiation Institute (PNRI) Director Alumanda dela Rosa reiterated the country will be safe even in worst-case scenarios. With news that Japanese authorities are doing well in plugging the problem, however, the Philippines could as well give a sigh of relief.
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo said the PNRI detected a 90 to 112 nanosievert per hour in the local atmosphere as of 3:00 p.m. on March 16.
Sievert is the unit of dose that reflects the biological effect of radiation. PNRI earlier said there is no obvious effect on a human being who has absorbed less than 250 millisieverts.
Based on latest reports, Montejo said a white plume was seen from the plant at around 8:00 a.m. on Thursday.
Nonetheless, this should be no cause for alarm, he said.
A nuclear meltdown and the dissipation of water at the spent-fuel pools should only worry the Philippines, Montejo reiterated.
A very positive development is that authorities there are now working to connect power from outside to help in cooling down the plant. “We’re waiting for this. It will definitely improve the situation,” he said.
Even so, the country is ready in case the radiation levels near the nuclear plant reaches a threshold of 1 millisievert.
“This is the only time we will recommend a screening of food imports from Japan,” dela Rosa said. In the meantime, there is no such need for it yet, she stressed.
As for the impact of a 1 millisievert dose in Japan, “there will be very minimal impact to the country,” she said. Even if it wafts into the air, Philippines is too far away at 3000 kilometers, she stressed.
Montejo said there is no need for the country to demand for Japan to fast-track the plugging of the problem.
“They’re doing everything. Their best is more than enough…They already injected seawater into the reactors. They already sacrificed their reactors, they can’t be used anymore,” he said.

 

[jetcdadiver]

Hi, everyone... so glad I found this forum... I am a frequent diver of the Philippines' waters; I love the country, the people, and the marine life under the water there.
This year I am being asked to lead a trip there for the Tourism people. Before I make
a commitment, I want to do some research about the danger from radiation leaked into the water from the Japan reactors (which they are starting to be quite concerned about) and how much, if any, has made its way SW to the Philippines. It's almost too early for this kind of information to be available, but I wanted to ask my fellow divers what they've heard. Thank you so much.

Igonaway

There is no impact from the Fukushima Daiichi plant radiation leak to your area. The half life of the elements carrying the radiation into the water is short and what could linger would head towards Alaska (if it is still active radiation) with the ocean current.

 

[DevonDiver]

Japan and the Philippines may look 'close' on the maps used by the news agencies etc... but they are not to scale. In actuality, the Philippines is over 3000km from Japan. That's a loooong way.

If there were any major rad alerts in Taiwan or Hong Kong etc... that'll warn if there was any serious contamination en-route to the Philippines. But it is highly unlikely.