The nuclear disaster at Fukushima was a horrible tragedy for all involved, and like its precursor Chernobyl, it left behind a hollow husk surrounding it. Photographer Donald Weber, who also documented that most famous nuclear aftermath in Ukraine, traveled to the Fukushima buffer zone, to capture what he could. VICE went with him, and made this haunting little mini-documentary out of the footage. More »
The operator of Fukushima—Tokyo Electric Power Company—has just confessed in a report that its post-tsunami nuclear crisis was totally avoidable. Ugh. More »
During last year’s nuclear disaster, the deadly radiation inside Fukushima 1 became one with the surrounding environment contaminating everything. Things aren’t getting any better. Record quantities of the deadly radioactive isotope cesium-137 have just been discovered in the fisheries around Fukushima. More »
Newly released evidence from Japanese utility company TEPCO shows that the Japanese government ordered it not to tell anyone that Fukushima reactor 3 was about to explode until right before it happened. Could better procedure have made this disaster less catastrophic? More »
Scientists in Japan have been studying a specific breed of butterfly called the pale grass blue butterfly. Two months after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster that led to radiation leaking from the nuclear power station, the researchers collected 144 adult versions of that butterfly from 10 locations around Japan. The collection locations included the Fukushima area.
When the nuclear disaster occurred, the adult butterflies collected would have been in the larval stage. The researchers found that mutations on the butterflies collected near Fukushima were significantly more common the mutations on butterflies collected elsewhere. Examination of butterflies determined that radiation had caused the mutations in the Fukushima butterflies. The mutations included those of wings, antenna, and eyes.
The researchers bred the adult butterflies and determined that mutations not seen in the adults were seen in the offspring. Six months after the Fukushima disaster, the scientists collected the butterflies again at all 10 areas including Fukushima and found that the mutation rate of butterflies near Fukushima was more than double the mutation rate in the butterflies two months after the disaster. The scientists attribute the increase mutation rate to the butterflies eating contaminated food.
[via BBC]
The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in March 2011 released huge amounts of radiation into the surrounding environment. Here’s the first evidence that people exposed to the radiation could suffer serious health problems like the survivors of other intense nuclear catastrophes. More »
Since the Fukushima nuclear crisis occurred, there has been widespread speculation about the global impact of the disaster. Fortunately, a team of Stanford researchers has thrown their brains at the problem, and the answers are fairly reassuring. More »
The failures, explosions, leaks, and subsequent radioactive dead zone that will stain Japan for decades all started with an earthquake. Nobody can stop earthquakes. But after a thorough review, the Japanese government admits humans are responsible for the entire mess. More »
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