NEVER AGAIN!! – Fukushima Nuclear Disaster/Tsunami

 

 

5 Years: 11 March 2011 -2016

 

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        Fukushima, Japan 3rd Anniversary: March 11, 2011

                             

 

 

 

Fukushima Nuclear Denial

Remember Fukushima, March 11th 2011 – Many Would Rather You Didn’t….

 

March 11^th 2011: Three years later, marking the Third Anniversary of the Japan tsunami and Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, and still the denial and suppression of information, regarding the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactor continues.

 

It is information suppression on a global scale involving bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, [IAEA] formed by the United Nations in 1957, national government bodies, the all-powerful nuclear industry and nuclear based scientists, not to mention, even the media, and others who stand to gain from the existence of nuclear energy.

"Fukushima is an eerie replay of the denial and controversy that began with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is the same nuclear denial that also greeted nuclear bomb tests, such as Semipalatinsk in the Kazakhstan, plutonium plant disasters at Windscale in northern England and the nuclear power plant accidents at Three Mile Island in the United States and Chernobyl in what is now Ukraine."

Furthermore, "About a month after the disaster, on April 19, 2011, Japan chose to dramatically increase its official "safe’ radiation exposure levels from 1 mSv [a measure of radiation dose] t o 20 mSv per year–20 times higher than the U.S. exposure limit. This allowed the Japanese government to downplay the dangers of the fallout and avoid evacuation of many badly contaminated areas."

~Yale University Professor Emeritus Charles Perrow in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

"To date no health effects have been reported in any person as a result of radiation exposure from the accident," the IAEA in 2011, a claim it holds to today.  

And a new State Secrets Act sanctioned by the Japanese government now endorses the right to restrict Fukushima reporting- on pain of a 10 year jail sentence.

 "It’s the cancerous mark of a nuclear regime bound to control all knowledge of a lethal global catastrophe now ceaselessly escalating."

~Harvey Wasserman, co-author of Killing Our Own, in a piece entitled Japan’s New Fukushima Fascism.

Fukushima is different because of the sheer extent of disaster; Multiple meltdowns, on-going pollution of a significant chunk of Japan, airborne radioactive fallout conveyed by the winds throughout the world, and colossal amounts of radioactivity disappearing into the Pacific Ocean, flowing with the currents and transported in the systems of the marine life unfortunate enough to consume the nuclear contaminants.

The Medical Implications of Fukushima:

"Every increment of radiation exposure produces an incremental increase in the risk of cancer." 

~ National Council on Radiation Protection.

There have already been disproportionate numbers of thyroid cancer cases suddenly arising in Japan. This is a well-known primary indication of early radioactivity damage to the human body. Likewise damaged thyroid glands in Californian children were determined, in a study by the “Radiation and Public Health Project,” to be directly attributed to radioactive Fukushima fall-out. [Study conducted by Joseph Mangano and Dr Janette Sherman of the above mentioned Project and also Dr Chris Busby]

There is no such thing as a "safe" level of radioactivity. Any amount can kill.

"The Fukushima disaster is not over and will never end. The radioactive fallout which remains toxic for hundreds to thousands of years covers large swaths of Japan will never be "cleaned up’ and will contaminate food, humans and animals virtually forever."

~ Dr Helen Caldicott, a founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility quoted from Nuclear Madness, one of her books on nuclear power.

All Bluefin Tuna Caught In California-Radioactive:

In a study by the Stanford University, every Bluefin Tuna arriving from Japan that they caught in Californian waters was without fail, contaminated with radioactive cesium-137, [large scale emissions occurring from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant]:

“The tuna packaged it up [the radiation] and brought it across the world’s largest ocean. We were definitely surprised to see it at all and even more surprised to see it in every one we measured."

~ Daniel Madigan, Study Leader.

Costs and Consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster:

~ The Environmental Health Policy Institute of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)

“Some 800 square kilometres are ‘exclusion’ zones of "abandoned cities, towns, agricultural land, homes and properties, and from which 159,128 people have been evicted."

~ PSR senior scientist Steven Starr. 

"Should the public discover the true health cost of nuclear pollution, a cry would rise from all parts of the world and people would refuse to cooperate passively with their own death."

~ Rosalie Bertell, a Catholic nun and author of No Immediate Danger, referencing “the decades of suppression of the impacts of nuclear power and the reason behind it.”

 

		Remember Fukushima 11.3.11 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Sources:

opednews.com – Karl Grossman

theecologist.org

zerohedge.com

topinfopost.com

counterpunch.org

iaea.org

thebulletin.org

psr.org

ecowatch.com

Out With The Thermal Undies!

In With The Anti-Radiation Undies!!

As most people will realise even if they’re not particularly interested in realising, radiation levels near the infamous Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant site in Japan are still unsafe, but surprise, surprise, there have also been concerns that contaminated water might just, possibly, by some remote and wholly inexplicable chance 😉 be making its way out of the radio-active hot zone.

However, courtesy of the money grabbing on the back of the nuclear disaster, Japanese company, the Yamamoto Corporation an exciting new range of anti-radiation underwear and even swimsuits are now available to the intrepid N-plant worker and the slightly over-enthusiastic extreme tourist.

Anti-radiation Swimwear

Designed first and foremost for the Fukushima emergency workers still engaged in the unenviable and altogether far too hazardous job of cleaning up the plant, this flattering offering from Yamamoto Corporation will undoubtedly prove a hit with those swimming enthusiasts looking to escape the ice and cold of winter, albeit in a radio-active hot zone, or even those preparing themselves mentally and physically for the 2014 Valhalla Basin Winter Galactic Olympics. (Granted they could have had a similar experience swimming in the Methane seas of Titan, Saturn’s moon, but the enticing prospect of basking in the hot zone around the Fukushima N-plant swimming playfully in its radio-active waters is apparently a temptation the Yamamoto Corporation, for reasons best known to themselves, consider too great to endure… well whatever takes your fancy. And extreme tourism can carry its own unique notoriety after all….

This charmingly styled anti-radiation swimwear range, bearing a close resemblance to a deep-sea diver’s wetsuit is designed to protect the intrepid wearer when they take the plunge and enjoy a nice, hot, full-body dip in the radioactive water is made from a bio-rubber material that contains microscopic bubbles – clever little bubbles and not at all like those you find in your snuggly hot bubble bath… oh no, these are special bubbles and deflect almost 100 percent of beta particles. Could get very hot and sticky in there but then again if you insist in swimming in a radioactive hot zone presumably you don’t care…And neither will you mind pretty little price tag for these wetsuits which will set you back ¥150,000 ($1,078)

Anti-Radiation Underwear

So now you’re all hot under the radio-active collar and ready to rock and roll, next up is the Anti-Radiation Underwear

Yes! Out with the thermal undies and in with the anti-radiation undies! Tastefully styled to protect the lower spine and pelvic area, these 7lb beauties – lead infused anti-radiation undies are purpose designed to protect those all-important bits and bobs of you that you really, really really don’t want bombarded with heavy duty radiation Of course they could prove a touch impractical…a little weighty perhaps….possibly bordering on the manically bulky side… but think of the peace of mind these 7.5 lb. undies will give you Block out the majority of those highly radioactive gamma rays…slam the door completely in the face of all those other lesser breeds of ionizing radiation and worry no more! You are wearing your anti-radiation undies! And they will cost you a mere ¥80,850 ($829) A mere drop in the radio-active ocean.

Source:  geek.com

Reactor Explosions and Fires

Japan Nuclear Disaster And Earthquake-Tsunami 2011~2013

“I bowed and begged them to stay…”

Two years ago today the Japanese people were reeling from the nightmare of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake – the most powerful one ever recorded in Japan, and the 30-foot wave tsunami that crashed as much as 6 miles inshore on March 11 2011; It was a nightmare that killed in the region of 20,000 people and triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster 27 years ago.

Whilst the atomic accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant did not actually claim any lives it has left tens of thousands of people driven from their homes in a mass evacuation and reduced whole towns to an uninhabitable state as a consequence of the dangerous radiation levels. A situation that will probably last for many decades to come.

                        

A report compiled by America’s Institute of Nuclear Power Operations highlights the heroism of workers at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the disaster’s aftermath, which saw three reactors go into full nuclear meltdown…

“The plant’s back-up generators also failed, leaving most of the facility with no power. Workers struggled to cool the overheating reactors in ‘complete darkness’ while hundreds of aftershocks rocked the area, including two of greater than 7.0 magnitude. The workers persisted in their efforts despite ‘elevated and continuously changing dose rates and contamination levels,’ the report said. Food shortages meant they were given only a biscuit for breakfast and a bowl of noodles for dinner. Many slept on the floor. Some of the workers had lost their homes and families to the tsunami, but continued to toil at the crippled nuclear plant. Some operators volunteered to perform dangerous jobs, the report notes, while many had no formal training for the tasks they were attempting. They relied on "creativity" and "unconventional or unique methods to deal with ‘conditions that were beyond the design basis for the station.’ “ ~ America’s Institute of Nuclear Power Operations

No. 2 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered an explosion when cooling systems in the Unit failed and pressure inside the reactor soared. Reactor Units Nos. 1 and 3 were blasted by hydrogen explosions which blew the roof off No. 1 unit and tore No 3 reactor apart, and a fire broke out in reactor No. 4 spent fuel storage pond.

                  

   

Masao Yoshida then Fukushima Daiichi plant chief told state broadcaster NHK: "In the first week immediately after the accident I thought a few times ‘I’m going to die.”

Making reference to the explosion of hydrogen that ripped the buildings around rectors 1 and 3 to shreds, he added: "I thought it was all over.”

In a provisional report released by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Masao described how he was forced to face the fact that they had a full blown disaster on their hands “When lights flickered and went out, including those on the control panels.”

"I came to realise a tsunami had hit the site as one of the workers rushed into the room, shouting ‘Sea water is gushing in!’ I felt totally at a loss after losing power sources. Other workers appeared anxious. They argued, and one asked: ‘Is there any reason for us to be here when there is nothing we can do to control (the reactors)?’ I bowed and begged them to stay.”

As immobilised electrical and cooling systems at the nuclear power plant ground to a halt the largely unsung heroes – the heroic plant workers – in a terrifyingly high risk situation took life-threatening health risks in a desperate, punishing bid to prevent a worse nuclear disaster.

The beleaguered, under fire operator of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant released accounts from the plant workers’ themselves describing some of their most desperate moments as they struggled and fought to bring the stricken nuclear plant under control…

                   

• Overwhelming challenges as workers endeavoured to manually open a ventilation valve in a vital effort to discharge pressure from a reactor container.

"We put on the full protection gear but couldn’t possibly let young workers do the task, as we had to go into an area where the radiation levels were high. When I got to the place to open the valve, I heard eerie, deep popping noise from the torus (a donut-shaped structure at the bottom of the reactor). When I put one of my feet on the torus to reach the valve, my black rubber boot melted and slipped (due to the heat).” one worker recalled.

• Dire working conditions as they strove relentlessly to combat the dangerously unstable and crippled nuclear plant.

"We experienced big aftershocks, and many times we had to run up a hill in desperation (fearing a tsunami) with the full-face mask still on,” one worker said.

• Race against time to set down power cables and reinstate the electric supply:

"We finished the work (in one section) in several hours, although it usually requires one month or two. It was an operation we had to do in puddles, fearing electrification,” the worker said.

• Explosions and fires at the plant give a free rein to the release of critically hazardous radiation levels, compelling TEPCO to evacuate all but a handful of brave and desperately needed workers, out of a nuclear workforce of hundreds.

                      

Those workers became known as the "The Fukushima Fifty”, but the final numbers of workers risking lives and health to join the battle increased by thousands who were also joined by partner company technicians, the likes of Toshiba and Hitachi.

They undertook the commission of ensuring the steady flow of cooling water streaming into the six plant reactors, three of which none-the-less were later to undergo overheating and ultimate melted down.

Cooling System Failures at Japan’s Power Plants

“Reactors 1, 2 and 3 experienced a full meltdown in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami in March” ~ Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters (Japan}

“Nuclear fuel rods in reactors 2 and 3 probably melted during the first week of the nuclear crisis whilst fuel rods at the heart of reactor No. 1 melted almost completely in the first 16 hours after the disaster struck.”

“We Came Close To Losing Northern Japan”

~Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Radioactive Material Is Being Dumped in Japan’s Rivers…

 

The Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun has recently reported that radioactive water used to wash down contaminated buildings of the settlements close to the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor, which should have been sent through a stringent purification procedure was in fact being drained away into rivers rather than undergoing the intended strict disposal methods along with collected radioactive top soil and leaf debris which should have been securely and meticulously stored. This disposal method was seen to be standard procedure at 13 locations in Naraha, Iitate and Tamura. The allegation, supported by photographs

Many of the N-plant workers, fully aware of the breaching of rules and procedures set in place for the decontamination work claimed they were simply following orders from those above them on the basis that following nuclear waste disposal rules to the letter meant they would never complete the decontamination work. They also claimed that they were ordered as regarded the sites that monitor radiation, to merely sweep up around them and that was to be all they should do.

The government has committed 650 billion yen ($7.4 billion) to clean up the surroundings in contaminated towns and villages. The Environment Ministry engaged Japans most prominent contractors, the Taisei Corp who have a 7.72 billion yen contract in Iitate, and the Maeda Corp who have a contract in Naraha to the value of 18.82 billion yen. Infrastructures, highways and farm land will have radioactive substance sited within 65 feet of their location stripped away, if the objective is realised.

The Japanese government now plans to take tough action on the corrupt practice alleged to be currently in place around the Fukushima nuclear plant, and residents in surrounding areas have secured an apology from Senior Vice Environment Minister Shinji Inoue.

 

Cleaning Radioactive Water With Graphene

The Rice University of Houston and the Lomonosov Moscow State University has generated exciting new research that suggests that there may be a way to use graphene, to reverse the disastrous environmental impact at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant.

**Graphene is a substance made of pure carbon. Its atoms are arranged in a similar way to graphite, but in a very light sheet only one-atom in density. It’s been suggested that Graphene could also be a highly significant factor in increasing the efficiency of the desalinization process, in flexible semi-conductors, and the improvement of electronics. Processes based on graphene could also be useful in the cleaning up of the natural gas industry, and if this report proves successful, it could play a very important role in the nuclear waste clean-up.

The researchers involved say that when graphene oxide flakes are introduced to contaminated water, the result is the condensing into clusters of the offending radionuclides. They can then be split away and securely disposed of.

"Graphene oxide introduced to simulated wastes coagulated within minutes, quickly clumping the worst toxins," Chemist Stepan Kalmykov.

"It’s too hot. Companies have to ship contaminated water to repository sites around the country at very large expense. The ability to quickly filter out contaminants on-site would save a great deal of money." ~ Chemist James Tour

Thousands of Japanese residents have been forced into homeless and it could take decades to clear all the contamination and complete the clean-up. Even then some towns and villages may have to be abandoned forever.

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** Graphene is made by chemically processing graphite — also found in the ‘lead’ of pencils. A sheet of graphene is just a single layer of carbon atoms- one of the most abundant materials on Earth, an individual layer of crystalline graphite -locked together in a strongly-bonded honeycomb pattern.

Flexible, translucent and the most ultrathin material ever made Graphene is also the strongest substance known to mankind — 100-300 times stronger than steel and several times tougher than diamond. The best heat conductor known to man and better at conducting electricity than silicon, with its unique optical properties. Graphene has caused a dramatic surge in research and potential applications for the material.

An inherently sustainable and economical technology, Graphene could lead to roll up behind the ear mobile phones , paper thin HD televisions, and fold away into a tiny square, bendy electronic newspapers. It could transform the medications we use, and replace silicon which is currently used in the creation of the chips in our computers. It is also possible that Graphene being such a bendy substance could replace existing touch-screens materials for devices such as tablets making the likes of the i-pad as out-dated as anything else in ancient history!

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Sources:

• alienscientist.com

• NEWS 24

• EarthTechling; Beth Buczynski

• The Lede; Robert Mackey

 

Silence in the Shadows ~ 1

“You’ve already been exposed to excessively high radiation levels,” Yerik stated matter of factually. “Any further exposure… it’s too dangerous. You’re not going.”

Yelena* rounded on him angrily, a growl in every breath.

“You should have told me!”  He continued, ignoring her furious protests and the wolf flaring in her eyes. “How long did you think you could hide the truth from us? No one knows the exact amount you were exposed to – do they?!! Nothing was ever recorded. An inconvenient, dark secret those concerned were paid to forget. I do not wish for you to die in the land of wolves!

– If you walk in the land of wolves you may not be able to return…if the contamination is too great there would be no choice but to leave you there. It is too high a price to pay for walking in the land of wolves.”

“I am not afraid to die in the land of wolves!! And I have no intentions of doing so, so you have nothing to fear!”

* (The light of the Sun)

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Cutting-edge Geiger Counters rattled incessantly clicking with increasing rapidity in the irradiated silence that marked the desolate aftermath of the nuclear war zone – painfully evident in the silent ghost cities; uninhabited but otherwise undamaged, surrounded by dead zones and lines of black skeletal trees. Sludge-ridden radioactive rivers flanked the route that led to the N-plant, a tall silent sentinel standing eerily against the sky line; the Land of Wolves. Yelena walked quietly listening to the silence; a strange, unearthly stimulant, chillingly unnatural.

The sheer alien, otherworldliness of the Zone sent shivers of something tingling through bones and spirits unsettling even the most hardened amongst the accompanying Astro-Biological Research Team. Stalked ever by the invisible radioactive enemy they gathered their data quickly, ever mindful of the Geiger counters warning of rising radiation levels – dangerous miliseiverts, as they made wary progress deep into the contaminated heart of the Zone of Exclusion.

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Halting for a moment outside an abandoned security building entrance, Yelena gazed upwards at the imposing tinted glass walls and the pyramid-dome entrance, absorbing the unnerving, empty calm it exuded in the alien sun. Dark, distorted shadows flitted uneasily high on the smoked glass windowed building overlooking the ghost cities of the exclusion zone.

A tainted wind breezing gently, brooding alien skies off-setting dark clouds roiling on the horizon; in the distance dead satellite monitors, looking out over the rusting rails of deserted office buildings from lofty heights.

Once a tall tastefully designed modern building, state-of-the-art, now a deserted, sightless reflection where the sunlight was a strange mirror-image in darkened, dusty glass windows.

Yelena gazed up at its sunlit front disquieted, at the roof-top tracking probes lying idle and silent. They would never work again – ever. There should have been life here but there was none. Activity, but the building was sealed, locked in time, its inhabitants long gone, and the silent tracking probes still and lifeless, and on closer inspection corrupted by corrosion. No birds would sing here, no chitter of unseen insect life. No calls. No cries. Just a still, empty silence where there should have been life, and the shivering of the wind.

Copyright: Europa’s Icewolf 2012 ~ All Rights Reserved.

Fukushima’s Radio-Active Pacific Marine Life??

 

 

Following the 8.5 tons of radioactive water which has already leaked just recently at Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Plant (originally estimated at just a few gallons…yes…well…TEPCO would say that…) when a pipe became detached at reactor Unit 4 and caused a temporary suspension of cooling operations at a spent-fuel pool – (a collapse of its spent fuel cooling pool could cause a worse disaster than the three reactor meltdowns), a further leak at a water reprocessing unit released enough beta rays to cause radiation sickness. TEPCO said no one was injured and after the bolts on a tank were tightened the leak stopped …

Hmm….well of course it did…nothing to worry about then…

But there have been at least 30 other locations within the N-Plant where radio-active leaks have occurred since late January!!

Naturally the official report is that no signs of radioactive water from the leaks have been detected leaking into the ocean surrounding the stricken reactor, but as a precaution problem areas have had sandbag walls built around them…

Well that’s alright then! Everything’s nicely under control…no problem at all…just be VERY careful about what you go fishing for in the Pacific Ocean!! After all…who knows what “hot stuff” you might find lurking down there in the now, decidedly radio-active depths!!

Threat to Canadian Fish Consumers from Japanese Radiation ?

In the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi crisis, the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, the Canadian government wasted no time reassuring the resident population that they would be safe and sound and there was no danger to their health from Fukushima fallout.

After all there was a nice big ocean for all that escaping Japanese N-plant radiation to fall into, where it would all be safely watered down and therefore be thoroughly harmless and benign, not in the least bit dangerous.

Nothing to worry about…nothing at all…

Not too surprisingly and contrary to claims by the Canadian government anti-nuclear groups highlight the fact that the government has not exactly drawn attention to the radiation risks from Fukushima, in fact quite the opposite, and neither is it doing much to keep an eye on them either.

“We suspect we’re going to see more cancers, decreased fetal viability, decreased fertility, increased metabolic defects — and we expect them to be generational,” ~Dewar, the executive director of Physicians for Global Survival, a Canadian anti-nuclear group.

CONTAMINATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN

Given that the largest source of the world’s fish is in the Pacific Ocean, and if these fish are contaminated by radiation and it’s notably serious consequences for millions of marine life consumers, it is surely a reckless disregard of public health and safety that there has been next to nothing done in the way of oceanic sea life testing in the Pacific.

“Fukushima caused history’s biggest-ever release of radiation into the ocean — 10 to 100 times more than the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.” ~oceanographer Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the non-profit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, October 2011

“It’s completely untrue to say this level of radiation is safe or harmless,” said Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. “The reassurances have been completely irresponsible. To say there are no health concerns flies in the face of all scientific evidence. There is no safe level of radiation. They should be making every effort to monitor food.”

 

TESTING AND RESULT REPORTING

But not to worry, even if nobody else is bothering, it would appear that Japan is reassuringly busy thoroughly testing and analysing fish for radiation and is even going so far as to actually report the results in the public arena. It is just rather unfortunate that it saw fit to then go on to sell radiation contaminated food to the Japanese public, who understandably responded with a barrage of criticism.

CFIA stopped doing the tests by CIFA in Having decided, in their great wisdom, June last year, that there was absolutely no need to continue testing, CIFA have agreed to the testing, this year and next, of Pacific salmon and tuna that return to B.C. fishing grounds, but that is all, and this is largely because of the risk of their possible close proximity to Japan.

EVIDENCE THAT THE IMPACTS OF THE DISASTER ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN ARE WORSE THAN EXPECTED.

60 to 80 per cent of Japanese fishing catches each month have consistently tested positive for radioactive Caesium by the Japanese Fisheries Agency. With a half-life of 30 years the most common configuration of radioactive Caesium is a very long-lived radionuclide capable of long term environmental poisoning, topped off with the added bonus of its cancer increasing factor.

According to The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, “The majority of exported fish to Canada are caught much farther from the coast of Japan, and the Japanese testing has shown that these fish have not been contaminated with high levels of radionuclides.”

Japan has announced that in April 2012 it will reduce its current limit for radiation in food from 500 Becquerel’s per kilogram to the new limit of 100 Becquerel’s per kilogram. In contrast Canada’s limit is set at 1,000 Becquerel’s per kilogram. Presumably Canadians have a much higher tolerance to the Caesium radionuclide and don’t suffer the effects the same as everybody else…

BUT !!!

In November 2011 of the 1,100 tested Japanese catches one in five have already managed to exceed Japan’s new up and coming reduced lower limit.

This included:

•   18 % of cod,
•   21 % of eel,
•   22 % of sole
•   33 % of seaweed

Fish catches also exceeded the current Japanese limit for radioactive food contamination- 500 Becquerel’s per kilogram stand at approximately 2.7%, a 1% increase from October.

April 2011 food contamination levels climbed to 373 Becquerel’s per kilogram. Although by November the contamination level had reduced it was still up from the 78 Becquerel’s per kilogram average for October.

Not the greatest of results then.

STUDY OF EFFECTS ON MARINE LIFE

There are hardly any studies into how Fukushima affected marine life.

Of the ones that do one of those studies found that fish and crustaceans caught in the vicinity of Fukushima in late March had:

•   10,000 times more than so-called safe levels of radiation
•   Macroalgae had 19,000 times the safe level

The results of these studies look even worse when it is taken into account the statistics do not include the later dumping of before 11,000 tonnes into the Pacific in April by TEPCO, nor does it include further hundreds more tonnes of radioactive water released that has also leaked.

 

October studies indicated Caesium levels in the Pacific had:

• Shown a shock increase of 45 million times above levels began.

July studies showed:

• Caesium levels ceased to decline.
• Levels persistently at 10,000 times higher than before the Daiichi crisis.

The most likely reason for this are:

•   Contaminated groundwater still leaking radiation from the Daiichi plant
•   The possibility of “biomagnification.”
  •   where radiation concentrations are disposed to intensifying the farther up the food chain the species happen to be.

This conclusion seems to be supported by data from the Japanese fisheries. Far from declining, contamination levels in some species did not reduce at all or at best actually rose last autumn. This applied also to Japanese exports to Canada, and included species such as:

•   Skipjack
•   Tuna
•   Cod
•   Sole
•   Eel

 

CAESIUM AND SPECIES

MOST

AFFECTED

Some Caesium was found in 16 of 22 species in November, the last full month for which data were available. Caesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:

•   73 % of mackerel tested
•   91 % of the halibut
•   92 % of the sardines
•   93 % of the tuna and eel
•   94 % of the cod and anchovies
•   100 % of the carp, seaweed, shark and monkfish

Some of the fish were caught in Japanese coastal waters. Other catches were made hundreds of kilometres away in the open ocean.

OCEAN DEBRIS

In mid-December, a year earlier than predicted by scientists and authorities, debris the tsunami swept into the sea has reportedly begun washing on shore along the West Coast.

Exactly what impact on the Pacific the debris will have remains to be seen. The most likely scenario is its joining with the existing garbage floating in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” of the North Pacific Gyre.

The impact of the debris on the Pacific marine life still has a large question mark hanging over it.