Radiation monitors like these in Sidney, B.C., are detecting miniscule increases in radiation, presumably from the troubled Japanese reactors. CBC
Health Canada says its monitoring stations are detecting a "minuscule" increase in radiation levels along the B.C. coast in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan.
Gary Holub says increased radiation levels were expected, and are less than the increase in radiation levels Canadians would see naturally when it rains.
Holub stressed that the increase poses no health risk to Canadians.
The agency installed nine additional monitoring stations along the West Coast late last week, as public concerns persisted about possible radioactive drift from Japan making it thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean to North America.
Canadian health officials are reassuring the public there's no need to fear fallout from Japan, but some residents of B.C. remain nervous.
The nuclear complex in northern Japan was crippled 10 days ago by a huge earthquake and massive tsunami that killed thousands, and workers are still struggling to stabilize the reactors.
© The Canadian Press, 2011
