REPORTS ON CONSEQUENCES OF FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER ON FISHING AND MARINE ENVIRONMENT
Whether it is ongoing contamination of seafood, the devastation of the fishing industry, drastic clean up plans or overall impacts to the marine environment, the consequences of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima continue:
From the NEW YORK TIMES, October 25, 2012:
TOKYO — Elevated levels of cesium still detected in fish off the Fukushima coast of Japan suggest that radioactive particles from last year’s nuclear disaster have accumulated on the seafloor and could contaminate sea life for decades, according to new research.
From the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/fish-fukushima-show-radioactivity-article-1.1192653
Ken Buesseler is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who has studied marine radioactivity since Chernobyl in 1986 and led an international research cruise off Japan in June 2011.
“…Other measurements show trends that are more worrisome. Levels of radioactivity found in fish are not decreasing and there appear to be hot spots on the seafloor that are not well mapped. There is also little agreement on exactly how much radioactivity was released or even whether the fires and explosions at the power plant resulted in more radioactive fallout to the ocean than did direct releases of radioactivity caused by dumping water on the reactors to keep them cool. READ THE REST AT:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/10/opinion/buesseler-fukushima-ocean/index.html
“Radioactive cesium measuring 258 times the amount that Japan’s government deems safe for consumption has been found in fish near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported Tuesday.” READ THE REST AT:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/21/record-radiation-found-in-fish-near-fukushima-plant/
FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES, October 25, 2012:
Oregon State University researchers have found traces of radioactive cesium from last year’s Japanese nuclear reactor disaster in West Coast albacore tuna.
read more:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2012/10/albacore-tuna-show-traces-of-radioactive-cesium/
“The total haul on a recent afternoon stood at five tonnes of octopus and a tonne of whelks, but that is less than a tenth of the overall catch Soma’s fishermen brought in daily before the tsunami.
“We want to get back to those days as quickly as possible, and this is the first step,” said Haga (Noriaki Haga, the fisheries official). “If we’d only had to contend with the tsunami and not the nuclear accident as well, we’d be much farther along the road to recovery by now. Radiation is our invisible enemy. All we can do is test and test again, and try to reassure people. But as soon as they hear the word Fukushima … ” READ THE REST AT:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/09/fukushima-fishermen-crippled-industry
“Radioactive cesium was detected in samples of highly prized Pacific bluefin tuna, but it is well below levels considered unsafe for humans, the scientists say.
The evidence is “unequivocal” that the tuna – caught off San Diego a year ago – were contaminated with radiation from Japan’s nuclear disaster, the researchers said.” READ THE REST AT:
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Japan-s-radiation-found-in-California-bluefin-tuna-3591176.php
“A clay-cement compound will be laid over 73,000 square meters of the floor of the Pacific in front of the Fukushima Daiichi plant on the nation’s northeast coast, said Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).
The area is equivalent to around 10 soccer pitches.
“This is meant to prevent further contamination of the ocean… as sample tests have shown a relatively high concentration of radioactive substances in the sea soil in the bay,” a company spokeswoman said. READ THE REST:
