DEP chief: No radiation increase in N.J. milk, water

As New Jersey officials examine whether to make any changes in the state’s nuclear safety program in response to the devastation in Japan, the state’s Department of  Environmental Protection chief said radiation from the damaged nuclear plants in Japan is not causing any problem in the Garden State.

What’s more, officials said the same kind of accident is unlikely in the Garden State.

New Jersey Homeland Security director Charles McKenna said Wednesday the four nuclear plants in the state are not built on any seismic faults and there is little likelihood of a tsunami.

Containment vessels at the Oyster Creek and Hope Creek plants are similar in design to the damaged units in Japan.

“It wasn’t the containment vessel that was the problem. A lot of the problem was the backup systems that failed in light of the tsunami,” he said. “Our backup systems are designed much differently and I would think are more resilient than the ones in Japan so that hopefully we would not suffer that same sort of consequence.”

State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said mild traces of Iodine-131 have been found in rainwater in New Jersey resulting from the initial explosion at the Japanese plant. Martin said tests of milk and water supply samples found no indication of radioactive material.