The MetService is reporting there is little or no chance radioactive material released into the atmosphere from damaged Japanese nuclear power stations will reach New Zealand.

The National Radiation Laboratory (NRL) and MetService are advising that global atmospheric circulation patterns are effectively confining the spread of any radioactive material from Japan to the Northern Hemisphere.

The Friday, March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan has caused some radiation leaks from nuclear power plants. File picture.

There are now reports of nuclear material originating in Japan being detected in Alaska and North America, though at such low levels that they pose no hazard to human health.

Both NRL and MetService have received enquiries from the public about the impact of the Japanese nuclear emergency on New Zealand.

'NRL and international agencies are using existing monitoring sites to track the spread of any radioactivity, including air monitoring stations in New Zealand and other countries,” says NRL emergency response team leader Tony Cotterill.

NRL has access to data from the air monitoring stations of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation.

In New Zealand, there are stations at Kaitaia and the Chatham Islands.

Additionally, around the Pacific, there are stations in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Japan, Christmas Island, Wake Island, Midway Island, Hawaii, California, and Alaska.

Data is also available from an NRL/MetService station at Hokitika.

MetService chief forecaster Peter Kreft says monitoring this situation is important.

'It was important to understand that forecasting the airborne spread of radioactive material is a highly specialised field.

'Unless information about this comes from NRL, directly or through reputable media or channels, think twice about relying on that information.”

At the request of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Meteorological Organisation has activated its environmental emergency response mechanism. WMO's Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres in Asia (Beijing, Tokyo and Obninsk, Russian Federation) and Australia are closely monitoring the situation.