Fukushima Contamination: In the Ocean and in the Biosphere

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Two eminent scientists report on their latest research on radiation from Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Ken Buesseler - MARINE RADIOCHEMIST, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.  Within months of the Fukushima disaster, Ken Buesseler assembled an international research cruise to sample the waters surrounding the nuclear plant. To date, important fisheries off Fukushima remain closed due to cesium levels above Japanese limits for seafood. Buesseler is now monitoring over 50 sites along the West Coast, from Alaska to Mexico, with citizen-scientist funding and participation. In April 2015, radioactive materials from Fukushima were detected in Ucluelet BC, north of Vancouver.

Tim Mousseau - RESEARCH BIOLOGIST, University of South Carolina, Columbia.  Professor Mousseau has studied the impacts of radioactive contaminants on biological communities in the Chernobyl region of Ukraine and Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.  His research suggests that many species of birds, plants and animals have experienced direct toxicity as a result of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. This mutational load has had dramatic consequences for development, reproduction and survival, and the effects observed at individual and population levels are having significant impacts on  these regions.