Thanks for the story – however, nuclear fallout did reach us from atmospheric atomic testing in the 50s and 60s and we used to get advised on the caesium and strontium levels in milk every night in the major newspapers. 80% of this fallout came from tests conducted in the Northern hemisphere and no doubt got carried here by the stratospheric winds.

Given that the Japanese reactor is 7 times more powerful than the one at Chernobyl, there are 6 of them in trouble and not one as at Chernobyl and spent fuel rods are stored there unlike Chernobyl, if it goes belly up then it is possible that we could be affected but to what degree?

Some comment and/or article on atmospheric likelihoods would be appreciated.

Thank you Phil for explaining the risks to NZ. With some hope the radiation will have been diluted down enough to not affect the marine life further away.

Thanks Phil, as always you present the science in a way that is professional, interesting and easy for the masses to understand.

Has anyone told the fish and birds not to cross the equator?