Japanese Travelers Setting Off O'Hare Radiation Detectors

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 17, 2011 7:40PM

There's no cause for alarm yet that weather patterns may bring radiation from Japan's Fukishima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to the States. But for travelers leaving the Land of the Rising Sun, trace levels of radiation are setting off detectors at O'Hare.

Passengers flying in from Japan yesterday triggered radiation detectors as they passed through customs. Radiation was also found in luggage and in one airplane's air filtration system. Both Mayor Daley and city aviation officials wouldn't disclose further details of the levels of radiation or the extent of detection, saying that federal authorities were handling the situation. Customs officials said that no airplanes have shown harmful levels of radiation and any travelers who have shown signs of radiation sickness have been referred to health authorities for proper treatment.