How Deadly Is the Ongoing Disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Station?
By B. McPherson The catastrophe that hit Japan this last March continues. The combination of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation has made 2011 a most deadly year for the Japanese. New figures being released show that the radiation release from nuclear plant Fukushima Daiichi was probably twice as high as initially thought. Apparently, the Japanese government failed to measure the amount of radioactive particles that were released into and over the ocean, only taking into consideration that which fell on the surrounding land. “ Andreas Stohl, of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, said measurements taken from a global network of sensors showed that the plant had released 36,000 terabecquerels of caesium-137 between 11 March and 20 April. ” The Guardian UK New figures being made public show that there was a massive release of cesium 137 into the ocean. This element is radioactive and takes 30 years for half of it to decay to a non-radioactive substance. This constitutes ...