On March 11th in 2011 a massive earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a tsunami that swept through the towns of Okuma and Futaba, irreparably damaging the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant (Fukushima Dai-ichi) and initiating a nuclear meltdown. Since that terrible day, over two years ago, high levels of radiation have leaked from Fukushima I into the surrounding area – the air, the groundwater and into the Pacific Ocean.
The implications of what is now considered the world’s worst nuclear disaster for ocean and human life in both the short and long-term have brought the vexed issue of nuclear power into the spotlight once again, and at a crucial moment in its sorry history. Nuclear power continues to surface as a viable and ‘safe’ alternative to fossil fuels, as unbelievable to the post-Three Mile Island/Chernobyl/Fukushima generations as that might seem.
The persistence of the nuclear power lobbyists in the age of climate change, with its attendant increase in major natural disasters, seems even more extraordinary. Yet, as with all such things, there are significant vested interests, not least in the mining and sale of uranium (Australia has two out of the six largest uranium-producing mines in the world –Ranger and Olympic Dam – and Fukushima was fueled by Australian uranium). These interests are the reason nuclear power continues to rear its ugly head, even though the effects of radiation on life on the planet are well-known and tragically evident from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, from the 2000 plus nuclear ‘tests’ carried out since World War 2, and from the ‘accidents’ at Three Mile Island onwards...
more > Fukushima is Here | The Buzz
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