By: Michael D. Jacobsen
Staff writer at Fighting the Tyranny
The disaster that happened at the Fukushima plant occurred on March 11th, 2011. An 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, the largest ever recorded. The damage from the earthquake and the resulting tsunami caused enough damage to the Fukushima plant to send its reactors into meltdown.
Millions of tons of contaminated water were spilled into the Pacific Ocean, and over the years much more has entered the ocean by underground water runoff. As of 2017, the flow has been almost entirely contained, yet the contamination went on for years after the initial event. To this day highly radioactive water still leaks into the ocean. While the levels leaking are nowhere near 2011 and the following years level it still presents a danger. So how dangerous is it?
Well, the answer to that is really what level you consider radioactive water to be dangerous at. Let’s look at the facts, the Pacific Ocean is a huge body of water. For any single event or catastrophe to have an effect on it means that an enormous impact has been made. In this case, we are reading elevated radiation levels on the west coast of the United States. We are told that while the levels are higher, we can still swim in the ocean all year and we will not get more radiation exposure than a dental x-ray. However, it has been noted that cases such as thyroid cancer have been on the rise. While the rates have been increasing over the last few decades, we have seen an increase in thyroid cancer since Fukushima.
The next problem is, of course dealing with the fish that we eat that are swimming in these contaminated waters. Again, we are told that the increase in radiation is nothing to worry about and the fish are approved for consumption. I find it hard to believe that fish swimming in contaminated water is fine. Especially if they have been in the waters near Japan. If the reactors are still leaking new pollution into the surrounding waters every year, these fish cannot be safe to consume. Now, it is possible for the fish that stay near the west coast to be less affected, but I tend to think that the current levels deemed safe for humans do not translate to the same for fish.
There is also the issue with rainwater that has been contaminated falling on US soil. It has been reported that the radiation from Fukushima has reached as far as Vermont and has contaminated drinking water in at least 13 major American cities. And that the radiation has even found its way into our milk supply. With the level of contamination being at the highest level the EPA allows. Now since water from the Pacific still evaporates and since it is still getting contaminated, that means that this problem is ongoing. Yet we are being told that we are safe.
Not only is the radiation still a danger to people on the west coast, let us not forget that to this day more than 80.000 people who were forced to evacuate during the crisis, still cannot return home due to the dangerous levels of radiation. The problems from this meltdown are far from over. The main reason why the dangers are being downplayed is that if most Americans knew just how widespread the damage from this incident was. Most of us would stay away from the dairy, and fish market altogether. Something our country cannot afford, so we are kept in the dark about how horrible this problem is.
At first, we had a glimpse of how far reaching this catastrophe was. Then the effect was downplayed. There are still plenty of questions surrounding the meltdown at Fukushima, add to this the plans to drain almost a million tons of contaminated water into the ocean, If this water evaporates and makes it to the US how much more damage will it do? There has been no real study of just how badly contaminated rainwater is for people. All I can say is that the increased thyroid cancer rates cannot be a coincidence.
As it stands there will be continued pollution and problems for years to come. It has been revealed that efforts to remove the melted highly radioactive fuel will not even begin until 2021. The Japanese government is doing all it can to convince people that the worst of this disaster is over. However it is hard to trust a government that is encouraging people to move back to the outskirts of the evacuation zone while the radiation there is still many times higher than what is considered standard.
The impact to our environment from this disaster is still not fully known, and probably will not be for many years to come. When we are told that we are safe, we really should begin to ask more questions,especially in light of the US governments track record of not telling the truth to its citizens. At a minimum I encourage everyone to take potassium iodine which helps protect the thyroid from radiation injury. Also question how safe anything that you eat or drink really is, check the source. Do this for at least another six years. With luck the site will be cleaned up by then and the world can finally heal from the damage that this disaster has caused.
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