FUKUSHIMA REVISITED

SPECIAL POST

You may recall that there was a huge earthquake just off the coast of Japan in 2011 that led to a meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and simultaneous releases of highly radioactive water and gases from the plant.  The Japanese government downplayed the matter and refused help from other counties, including the United States.  Since then, news about the status of the plant and efforts to clean it up has been rather sparse.  

We do know that efforts to create a frozen ice barrier around the base of the site have been largely ineffective.  There have also been some reports of increased radioactivity among sea life in the vicinity.  In December of 2016, we learned that radioactive cesium-134 had reached the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest.  Also for the first time, cesium-134 has been detected in a Canadian salmon.  

In early February, there was a brief one-day report circulated among some U.S. media outlets that radiation levels at the plant had reached the highest levels since the original disaster.  Cameras sent in to one reactor to examine the extent of the problem immediately malfunctioned due to the high levels of radiation.  Speculation was, and is, that reactor number two is in total meltdown, with horribly high levels of radiation being detected under the reactor... radiation strong enough to kill a human being in one minute.   

Once again, both U.S. and Japanese officials are downplaying the danger.  U.S. officials insist that the cesium reaching our shores poses no threat to human life and is well-below the danger level; they cease to mention that all it takes is one particle of radiation to strike the right human cell and cancer is born.  The Japanese insist that no radiation is in danger of seeping into the ocean or the groundwater beneath the plant; the fact is that we all know high levels of radiation have existed in the groundwater for years and that fish or other sea life in the vicinity have to be getting their increased levels of radiation from somewhere.  

Just so you have an idea of what we are discussing here, the previous record of 73 sieverts per hour in radiation was detected in 2012; the most recent reading is at 573.  

The Fukushima disaster always has and always will pose a significant threat to the west coast of the United States, and after six years of efforts to contain the problem we are no closer today than we were on day one.  

We'd better keep an eye on it.  

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.