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Fishing for Answers off Fukushima

By Guest PostNovember 19, 2012Environmentcatastrophic damage, cesium, contaminated sediment, contamination, dai ichi, earthquake, fish, fukushima, fukushima prefecture, implication, Japan, japanese coast, japanese public, ken buesseler, maff, marine environment, mitsuo uematsu, northeast, northwest, nuclear power plant, ocean, pacific ocean, public health, radiation, radiation level, radioactive isotope, radionuclides, reactor site, release, seafloor, seaweed, shellfish, tokyo, triple disaster, tsunami, university, world

Japan fisheries data provides a look at how the ocean is faring 18 months after the worst accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history

Japan’s “triple disaster,” as it has become known, began on March 11, 2011, and remains unprecedented in its scope and complexity. To understand the lingering effects and potential public health implications of that chain of events, scientists are turning to a diverse and widespread sentinel in the world’s ocean: fish.

Events on March 11 began with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the fourth largest ever recorded. The earthquake in turn spawned a massive 40-foot tsunami that inundated the northeast Japanese coast and resulted in an estimated 20,000 missing or dead. Finally, the wave caused catastrophic damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, resulting in the largest accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history, 80 percent of which ended up in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. (more…)

Researchers Assess Radioactivity Released to the Ocean from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Facility

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2011Environmentbaltic and black seas, cesium 134, cesium 137, chernobyl accident, coastal waters, contamination, fate of radioactivity, fukushima dai ichi nuclear power plants, fukushima nuclear power plants, groundwater, history of contaminant, iodine 131, isotope, japan agency for marine earth science and technology, ken buesseler, levels of radioactivity, limnology, march 11 earthquake, marine biota, marine life, marine sediments, masao fukasawa, meteorological research institute, mext, michio aoyama, northwest coast of japan, ocean, ocean mixing processes, plants, radioactive leaks, radioactivity, radioactivity from fukushima, radionuclides, reactor facility, salt lake city, salt water basins, tepco, tsunami, woods hole oceanographic institution

With news this week of additional radioactive leaks from Fukushima nuclear power plants, the impact on the ocean of releases of radioactivity from the plants remains unclear. But a new study by U.S. and Japanese researchers analyzes the levels of radioactivity discharged from the facility in the first four months after the accident and draws some basic conclusions about the history of contaminant releases to the ocean.

The study, conducted by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution chemist Ken Buesseler and two Japanese colleagues, Michio Aoyama of the Meteorological Research Institute and Masao Fukasawa of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, reports that discharges from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plants peaked one month after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that precipitated the nuclear accident, and continue through at least July. Their study finds the levels of radioactivity, while quite elevated, are not a direct exposure threat to humans or marine life, but cautions that the impact of accumulated radionuclides in marine sediments is poorly known. (more…)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to Lead Expedition to Measure Radioactive Contaminants in the Pacific Ocean

By Guest PostJune 3, 2011Environmentacoustic doppler current profiler, adcp, assessment, atlantic, cesium 137, contamination pathways and dispersion, drinking water standard, fukushima nuclear power plant, fukushima plant, gordon and betty moore foundation, gulf stream, iodine and cesium isotopes, Japan, kaimikai o kanoloa, ken buesseler, kuroshio current, levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the pacific ocean, marine organisms, moore funding, nick fisher, ocean current, phytoplankton, radiation, radioactive contaminants, radioactivity in ocean, radioisotope geochemistry, radionuclides, reactors, research vessel, spain, susan avery, tepco, tokyo electric power company, tokyo institute of technology, university of bremen, university of hawaii, us environmental protection agency, vicki chandler, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will lead the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the Fukushima nuclear power plant—a research effort funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

“This project will address fundamental questions about the impact of this release of radiation to the ocean, and in the process enhance international collaboration and sharing of scientific data,” said Vicki Chandler, Chief Program Officer, Science at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “It is our hope that through this adverse event, we can increase our current knowledge about various natural and man-made sources of radioactivity in the ocean, and how they might ultimately impact ocean life and health around the world.” (more…)

Tag Archives: radionuclides

Fishing for Answers off Fukushima

Researchers Assess Radioactivity Released to the Ocean from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Facility

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to Lead Expedition to Measure Radioactive Contaminants in the Pacific Ocean