Nuclear Power is Not Safe and Clean
| Nuclear Power is Not Safe And Clean Nuclear Waste & Fallout Reference Database
Editor’s note: Endnote functions – click on an endnote number, then you will arrive at the endnote. To get back to the main text from the endnote, click on the number of the endnote, and it will bring you back to the main text.
Until about two billion years ago, it was impossible to have any life on Earth; that is, there was so much radiation on Earth you couldn’t have any life – fish or anything. Gradually, about two billion years ago, the amount of radiation on this planet – and probably in the entire system – reduced and made it possible for some form of life to begin … Now when we go back to using nuclear power, we are creating something which nature tried to destroy to make life possible … Every time you produce radiation, you produce something that has a certain half-life, in some cases for billions of years. I think the human race is going to wreck itself; it is important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it. I do not believe nuclear power is worth it ... -- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, American naval officer and engineer.[1]
Mainstream news today in total denial or sell-outs? Up to and following the Trump inauguration, the ‘system’ continues to blame the lesions, tumors, bleeding eyes and rotting flesh, death and near extinction-levels of sea species[i], on what hiding behind a stupid grin they call, new and mysterious diseases caused by global warming.
Editor’s note: New and mysterious diseases [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi] [vii] [viii] [ix] [x] [xi] [xii] [xiii] [xiv] [xv] [xvi] [xvii] [xviii] [xix] [xx] [xxi] [xxii] [xxiii] [xxiv] [xxv] [xxvi] [xxvii] [xxviii] [xxix] [xxx] [xxxi] [xxxii] [xxxiii] [xxxiv] [xxxv] [xxxvi] [xxxvii] [xxxviii] [xxxix] [xl] [xli] [xlii] [xliii] [xliv] [xlv] [xlvi] [xlvii] [xlviii] [xlix] [l] [li] [lii] [liii] [liv] [lv] [lvi] [lvii] [lviii] [lix] [lx] [lxi] [lxii] [lxiii] [lxiv] Global warming/cooling (climate change) [lxv] [lxvi] [lxvii] [lxviii] [lxix] Snow [lxx] [lxxi] [lxxii] [lxxiii] [lxxiv] [lxxv] [lxxvi] [lxxvii] [lxxviii] [lxxix] Smoke [lxxx] [lxxxi] [lxxxii] [lxxxiii] [lxxxiv] [lxxxv] [lxxxvi] [lxxxvii] [lxxxviii] [lxxxix] [xc] [xci] [xcii] [xciii] [xciv] [xcv] [xcvi] [xcvii] Fog [xcviii] Steam [xcix] [c] [ci] [cii] [ciii] [civ]
Russians at it again I start reading abstracts of newly published scientific research studies by Chernobyl scientists, and immediately learned exposure to radionuclides causes bacteria and viruses to mutate, causing new and mysterious diseases. [2] [cv] [cvi] It took you less than ten seconds to read the previous sentence …now, you know more than all the apologist bad science perps will ever admit.[cvii] Here is an excerpt from Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment: Chapter 11. Chernobyl’s Radioactive Impact on Microbial Biota, by Alexey V. Yablokov; edited by Janet Sherman: [Abstract] Of the few microorganisms that have been studied, all underwent rapid changes in the areas heavily contaminated by Chernobyl. Organisms such as tuberculosis bacilli; hepatitis, herpes, and tobacco mosaic viruses; cytomegalovirus; and soil micromycetes and bacteria were activated in various ways. The ultimate long-term consequences for the Chernobyl microbiologic biota may be worse than what we know today. Compared to humans and other mammals, the profound changes that take place among these small live organisms with rapid reproductive turnover do not bode well for the health and survival of other species. [Article] One gram of soil contains some 2,500,000,000 microorganisms (bacteria, micro-fungi, and protozoa). Up to 3 kg of the mass of an adult human body is made up of bacteria, viruses, and micro-fungi. In spite of the fact that these represent such important and fundamentally live ecosystems there are only scarce data on the various microbiological consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe. Several incidences of increased morbidity owing to certain infectious diseases may be due to increased virulence of microbial populations as a result of Chernobyl irradiation. … … … All microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) and microbiological communities as a whole undergo rapid changes after any additional irradiation. The mechanism of such changes is well known: inclusion and increase in the frequency of mutations by natural selection and preservation of beneficial novel genes that for whatever reason appear more viable under the new conditions. This micro-evolutionary mechanism has been activated in all radioactively contaminated areas and leads to activation of old and the occurrence of new forms of viruses and bacteria.
[1] [On the hazards of nuclear power. Testimony to Congress (28 January 1982); published in Economics of Defense Policy: Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, 97th Cong., 2nd sess., Pt. 1 (1982)
[2] Published by the New York Academy of Sciences, Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment was written by scientists who used health data from 1986 to 2004; edited by Janet Sherman. http://www.strahlentelex.de/Yablokov_Chernobyl_book.pdf
07:26 AM Apr 25, 2016 | 98
150,000 Antelopes bleeding -8809.1- also see: Rapid & complete die-off of animals near nuclear site - 150,000 antelopes bleed from internal organs, pits brimming with corpses (PHOTOS)
-8806.3- also see: babies born w/no brain, and protruding spines by Hanford-[i] also see babies w/extra fingers born in Japan-[i] also see: Chernobyl Legacy by Paul Fusco-[i]
-8806.4- also see: Radiation effects on fetuses: Nuclear radiation deforms genes-[i] - twins attached by organs growing outside body, 1-eyed cyclops, babies with giant heads - respond to people (GRAPHIC PHOTOS -[i]-[i] & VIDEO)
5:06 PM Jan 7, 2014 -8805- Dead, conjoined baby gray whales found on West Coast of N. America - 2 heads - 2 tails, joined in middle (PHOTOS[i] & VIDEO)
06:17 PM Mar 30, 2016 | 55
12:05 AM Mar 18, 2016 | 1,185 Sick animals wash ashore in Alaska - fish bleed from face, bloody entrails come out
Vancouver B.C. & Seattle: 220,000,000 atoms of Fukushima Iodine-129/liter of rainwater - evacuation level is 40 atoms/liter 08:58 AM Feb 17, 2016 | 577
06:52 PM Jan 19, 2016 | 436 -8763- Idaho: Mutated mountain lion found near U.S. nuclear site - (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)
04:55 AM Nov 20, 2015 | 438 Giant whales piled up dead on West Coast -8744- Giant whales piled up dead, test for Fukushima radiation - (PHOTOS)
02:35 AM Nov 2, 2015 | 342 -8736- Seaborne West Coast: Fukushima nuclear waste off shoreline of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska - Highest radiation off San Francisco (MAP-[i])
Missouri 11:19 PM Oct 28, 2015 | 432 North St. Louis County, Missouri Bridgeton fire at West Lake nuclear landfill -8734- Child cancer clusters, double sets of teeth, missing eyeballs, brain tumors -8734.1- also see: Missouri, St. Louis, Bridgeton and West Lake landfills: Fire erupts by nuclear waste landfill near city (PHOTO & VIDEOS) -8734.2- also see: Missouri, St. Louis, Bridgeton and West Lake landfills: Fire rages towards 48,000 tons of Belgium Congo uranium 235, 238, most potent in the world -8734.4- also see: http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/breaking-it-down-renewed-concerns-over-radiation-bridgeton-landfills (video-at 27:00 in) -8734.5- also see: St. Louis, Missouri - Bridgeton & West Lake landfills: underground fire at Bridgeton Landfill moves toward radioactive waste in the adjacent West Lake Landfill
Missouri Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Sep 17, 2015 (at 27:00 in): There are references that are in the reports that the Attorney General did with independent scientists where they say that what we have under the ground could end up as Chernobyl. What I am concerned about are the 40,000 tons of uranium that have been spread all over the place… We’re talking about the most potent uranium in the world… We’re looking at the cancer clusters… We’re looking at the number of children who have double sets of teeth, children who have missing eyeballs, the number of children who have brain tumors. This is not consistent with a normal community whatsoever. [i] Excerpt: Jenell Rodden Wright gets a chill when she recalls the 20-year reunion she attended for the McCluer North High School class of 1988, less than five years ago. It’s amazing to think about it now, she says. Everything was normal. Everyone seemed healthy and happy. We were all fine. That’s not ordinarily what stands out to people about their high-school reunions. But it turns out that there was nothing ordinary about the McCluer North class of ’88. In just a few short years after that normal reunion, not so much would be fine. Not after Kathy Bindbeutel Broyles developed a brain tumor and died a few months later, at age 40, leaving behind four children. Not after Kathy Jones, mother of five adopted special-needs kids, died of uterine cancer at age 40. Not after friends Kerry and Steve contracted appendix cancer, and Scott got a brain tumor, and Diane was diagnosed with nonsmoking lung cancer-all in the course of a couple of years. These friends from the neighborhood where Wright grew up and went to high school were not random cases of bad luck. And they were by no means isolated cases in North County. They are but a microcosm, part of an untold number of people afflicted by their own government in an area that realistically must today be termed a cancer cluster. These were the children of Coldwater Creek, a picturesque tributary through about 15 miles of the county, spanning communities such as Florissant, Hazelwood, Black Jack, Spanish Lake, St. Ann, Berkeley, and Ferguson. It runs past schools, golf courses, and soccer fields. The creek was once a thing of beauty, to be sure. But there was one problem that the residents knew nothing about: Some of the deadliest toxins known to man had been dumped into Coldwater Creek. Over seven decades, home sweet home has doubled as a hell zone of water, soil, and air contaminated with treacherous substances like uranium-238 (with a half-life of 4.5 billion years) and thorium-232 (with a half-life of 14 billion years). The residents have paid a ghastly price, and the contamination may continue to plague future generations. It all started with the famous Manhattan Project, as St. Louis’ Mallinckrodt Chemical Works secretly signed on to enrich uranium for the world’s first controlled nuclear chain reaction in 1942. For 15 years, the company would continue its uranium-refining activities at its downtown site, and when it ran out of room to store its tons and tons of hazardous waste-known in the day as poisons-it was off to a couple of sites near the airport. Reportedly, not even the people assigned to transportation duties had any idea of what they had on their hands. It was inevitable, between the hauling and the storage, that Coldwater Creek and neighboring properties would become contaminated beyond anyone’s comprehension. Nothing could have been more irresponsible. We have the oldest radioactive waste of the atomic age, says Kay Drey, the grande dame of local environmentalism. And there is no place on the planet to put this where it won’t impact our air, our water, and our lives. There is no solution. For most of the past seven decades, authorities didn’t appear to make a serious effort to get rid of the waste, and as Drey points out, even moving it off to Utah or some other less-populated area is no panacea. In recent years, the government has made a fair amount of cleanup progress, but as recently as late April, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated that there is more testing-and more removal-to be done. Obviously, removing all of the toxins from a highly populated area ought to show up prominently on the government’s radar screen, though that doesn’t seem to have been the case for much of this sordid history. But even if that were to happen-even if every last ounce of radioactive waste were to be gone-that wouldn’t end the problem. You see, there’s a real-life crisis going on right now: After a long latency period following their exposure to ionizing radiation, a stunning number of people have reached the presentation stage of their diseases. That means we’re seeing symptoms in the generation of children who enjoyed the outdoors by playing in or near the water and otherwise exploring the lethal banks of Coldwater Creek. They skipped rocks, played with crawdads, and mixed yellow dirt with water to pan for gold. When the creek would flood-which happened quite a bit-the water would seep into their families’ gardens and basements. And there was always the prospect of wind blowing thorium dust off the piles of radioactive waste and into the air breathed by the kids and their families. And now, for a new generation, the symptoms are arriving. Most of the cancers appear to have popped out in just the last few years, says Wright. We are not even in full bloom. A Facebook group called Coldwater Creek-Just the facts Please was created by a McCluer North grad in 2011, about the time many young North County residents were becoming gravely ill or dying. It has grown to more than 7,200 members, whose heart-wrenching stories seem endless. Wright, an Ernst & Young certified public accountant and corporate executive before retiring to raise her children, joined the Facebook group shortly after it was established, as did another McCluer North grad, Diane Schanzenbach, an economics professor at Northwestern University. They are serious numbers crunchers who were struck by the statistical improbability of what they were seeing. Members of the page have reported more than 2,500 cases of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and birth defects. The numbers spiked earlier in the year, after KSDK-TV’s Leisa Zigman aired some compelling coverage of the situation. At press time, those numbers hadn’t been fully updated. But even the partial numbers are stunning. The data contains more than 100 reports of brain tumors and cancers, more than 50 cases of thyroid cancer, and more than 30 cases of appendix cancer-a stunning number, considering it’s a rare disease affecting fewer than 1,500 people annually. There are dozens of cases of leukemia, multiple sclerosis, and lymphoma. There’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, pancreatic cancer, and more. Wright says there are a stunning number of reports of infertility, in addition to the birth-defect cases. There have been three separate cases of conjoined twins (a statistical anomaly if ever there was one). There were three babies born with only one ear, another without either eyeball.
05:31 AM Oct 23, 2015 | 121 -8730- Mexico, Gulf of California: Hundreds of dolphins, sea lions, turtles and rare sea animals floating on water and dead on beaches (PHOTOS)
Sea life mutations
06:35 PM Sep 17, 2015 | 561
06:30 PM Sep 8, 2015 | 327 150,000 Antelopes bleeding
07:42 PM Sep 4, 2015 | 1,086 Seals, whales, sea lions, otters, birds -8706- West Coast animals. Alaska-to-California – whale disoriented; sea lions, seals, otters, birds disoriented, seizures; 30 whales tangle in nets; moose disoriented, swims in circles (PHOTOS -[i] & VIDEO)
06:45 PM Sep 2, 2015 | 631 EXTINCTION-LEVEL EVENT NOTE PHOTOS OF ALL SEA LIFE DEAD ON BEACH - ALSO NOTE PLUTONIUM-RADIONUCLIDE HOT SPOTS IN PACIFIC OCEAN WILL CONTINUE KILLING FOR HUNDREDS TO THOUSANDS OF YEARS -8705- West Coast: Whale strandings, cancer in seals, collapse of fish stocks (PHOTOS) and (VIDEO - whale final gasps on beach) VOA transcript, Sep 1, 2015 (emphasis added): Sharp Rise in Whale Deaths Being Investigated - Since May, 30 dead whales have washed ashore on the Gulf of Alaska. (Deborah Fauquier, NOAA): ‘And the average for the whole year generally is 8, so it’s definitely significantly elevated and for us that was a reason for concern.’ The Extreme Mortality Event, as scientists are calling it, has triggered an investigation. Huffington Post, Sep 1, 2015: Radiation in the Ocean - The West Coast of the United States seems under siege by negative environmental news… and numerous accounts of unusual coastal events: algae blooms, whale strandings, cancer in seals, collapse of fish stocks, and more… One argument has been the effect of radiation leaking from the [Fukushima] nuclear power plant reactors… and has been thereafter distributed by ocean currents; indeed there is evidence of a plume of increased concentration of Cesium-134, and other radioactive elements that have been observed at unprecedented levels, spreading out some 5,000 miles into the Pacific… In April of this year, there were headlines declaring that Fukushima radiation has reached the North American Shore and concerns were raised, spread through the Internet and press, that this was surely the cause of these otherwise inexplicable anomalous natural events. There is no Federal agency that funds monitoring of radiation in coastal water… So, yes, and no. No definitive conclusion, no clear argument that radiation is the cause of those coastal events which distress us so… The question is immensely important… A Plus, Aug 27, 2015: The Story Behind This Picture Is So Mysterious, Scientists Are Scratching Their Heads; What is going on here?!… the number has skyrocketed. Thirty whales spanning at least four species have been found… NOAA Fisheries scientists and partners are very concerned about the large number of whales stranding in the western Gulf of Alaska in recent months, Dr. Teri Rowles of the NOAA said… these enormous, gorgeous animals are dying in such high numbers. VOA, Sep 1, 2015: While President Barack Obama is in Alaska, he might have this question: Why have 30 dead whales washed ashore… [NOAA's] Fauquier said the extreme mortality event was complicated… Fauquier noted that in the ocean, toxins move up the food chain. Some of the whales actually filter the phytoplankton and the zooplankton… they get the toxins through that method…. as you go higher up the food web, more toxin gets concentrated.… NOAA hopes to explain why the whales died and why they perished in such great numbers. Cordova Times, Aug 28, 2015: Whales..Thirty dead whales ….And no one knows why… when thirty of them die in four months, three times the usual rate, something is not right…. between 700 deaths over the years, scientists have managed to perform two full necropsies. For this particular event, they’ve done one limited necropsy… While they keep an eye on algae, they have been testing all possibilities. Possibilities like fallout from Fukushima, and while they did radiation testing as part of the limited autopsy, it came back with background levels that would occur normally in Alaska, said Julie Speegle, speaking on behalf of NOAA. Newsweek, Aug 27, 2015: Over the last few months, dead whales have been appearing regularly on beaches along the Northern California coast. In the same period, 30 whale carcasses have washed up along the coast of Alaska, puzzling scientists. Washington Post, Aug 30, 2015: Concerns mount as whales are found dead in Gulf of Alaska - Researchers are scrambling to determine what’s behind the death of 30 whales… Other dead whales have been reported off the coast of British Columbia…. starvation or disease could be behind the deaths… The more likely culprit is unusual water conditions. NPR, Sep 1, 2015: Researchers say record low oxygen levels in Hood Canal are causing marine life to die off. Marine life is struggling to survive… We have been seeing lots and lots of dead fish on beaches, said Seth Book, with the Skokomish Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources… This is really the worst year in terms of the oxygen, said Jan Newton, an oceanography professor at the University of Washington…
03:53 PM Aug 26, 2015 | 517 Baby Elephant seals & sea lions die of leukemia-linked disorder -8702- California Coast: Many baby seals dying of leukemia-linked disorder- 1/3 of recent deaths at San Francisco Bay rescue center (CHART)
-8702.1- also see: Physics and Radiobiology of Nuclear Medicine (Springer), Jun 29, 2013: Leukemia is one of the most common cancers induced by radiation in humans, accounting for one in five mortalities from radio-carcinogenesis. Risk of leukemia varies with age, younger persons more prone to radio-carcinogenesis - Leukemia appears as early as 2-3 years after exposure, average latent period of 5 to 10 years.
08:20 PM Sep 6, 2014 | 352 Sea lions dying from organs falling out of place, tumors -8408- California sea lions dying from organs falling out of place, tumors, accumulation of puss inside bodies (PHOTOS) Marine mammal deaths reported by The Marine Mammal Center (Sausalito, Calif) since June 2014 (domoic acid-related deaths excluded): (12) Abscess: Collection of pus in tissue of t body (1) Carcinoma: Cancer that begins when altered or damaged DNA occurs so that cells become transformed, and begin to exhibit abnormal malignant properties. (1) Cardiomyopathy: Heart muscle disease – deterioration of the heart muscle, usually leads to heart failure (1) Coccidioidomycosis: Fungal disease - serious complications may occur in patients with weakened immune systems (2) Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation: Blood clots [that can] lead to multiple organ damage - clotting is disrupted - severe bleeding can occur (7) Neoplasia: Commonly referred to as a tumor - malignant neoplasm is a cancer (6) Otostrongylus: Lungworms in lungs or heart of seals (3) Peritonitis: Inflammation of tissue lining inner wall of abdomen - may result from infection (often due to rupture of a hollow organ) (4) Pneumonia: Inflammatory condition of the lung (6) Prolapse: Latin for to fall out - organs, such as the uterus, fall down or slip out of place - organs protruding through vagina or rectum (3) Pyothorax: Accumulation of pus in the pleural cavity (2) Renal Failure: Kidneys fail to adequately filter waste products from the blood (5) Septicemia: Potentially fatal whole-body inflammation caused by severe infection -8408.1- also see: CBS San Francisco: Record number of sick seals & sea lions - large pockets of green and yellow puss all over their body (PHOTO & VIDEOS) Apr 20, 2014 -8408.2- also see: Federal gov’t declares Unusual Mortality Event in So. California - 70% of all newborn sea lions may be dying - Testing for toxins, infectious agents (VIDEO) Mar 28, 2013 -8408.3- also see: Alarm as record numbers of seals and sea lions ‘starving to death’ along California coast - calls coming nonstop - washing ashore May 4, 2014 -8408.4- also see: NBC: Record level of sick or injured California seals and sea lions turning up - numbers are extraordinary - pups should be weighing 2x or 3x as much, severely malnourished (VIDEO) Apr 18, 2014
06:07 PM Aug 25, 2015 | 544
02:16 PM Aug 24, 2015 | 295
07:52 AM Aug 24, 2015 | 266
10:23 AM Aug 20, 2015 | 888
11:05 AM Aug 18, 2015 | 520 Fish
03:54 PM Aug 13, 2015 | 332 10:30 PM Aug 8, 2015 | 270
05:43 PM Aug 1, 2015 | 321 Salmon covered in fungus, red lesions all over, big gaping sores - millions dead
10:23 AM Jul 28, 2015 | 595 Mass die-offs of mammals, birds, fish
09:40 PM Jul 20, 2015 | 206
10:36 PM Jun 11, 2015 | 203 Zero baby birds survive on islands - usually over 15,000 11:45 AM May 21, 2015 | 395
07:41 PM May 17, 2015 | 420 Baby sea lions – entire generation dies
03:13 PM May 14, 2015 | 346 -8633- Seaward off Seattle: Communities of jellyfish 10 blocks long; herring disappeared; spike in salmon deaths (PHOTO) 01:26 PM May 6, 2015 | 417 Seals & walrus suffer
-8627.1- also see Baby gray whales & 55 dolphins found dead in Baja California; Corpses of sea lions, birds, sea turtles rot http://enenews.com/13-baby-gray-whales-55-dolpins-found-dead-west-coast-corpses-sea-lions-birds-sea-turtles-decomposing-rash-dead-humpback-whales-oregon-fear-whales-encountering-radiation-hot-spots-whale-watchi
New Mexico St. Univ., Mar 15, 2015 (emphasis added): What’s Killing Baja’s Marine Animals? Dead gray whales and dolphins. Corpses of sea lions, birds and sea turtles decomposing on the beach. Since the beginning of the year, the coasts of Baja California have been the scene of multiple discoveries of dead marine animals. The latest find was reported last week… 55 dead dolphins and 4 sea lions… [The gov't will] probe the reasons for the mysterious deaths. In mid-January… 550 dead sea birds and 4 dead sea lions near San Felipe. Another zone of mystery surrounds the Laguna Ojo de Liebre… where 150 dead sea turtles were discovered at the end of January. About two weeks earlier, 14 lifeless gray whales (13 babies and 1 adult) and 16 dead sea turtles were found in the same area… Mexican authorities hypothesized that sea turtles… could be succumbing to hypothermia [and] baby gray whales were dying from lack of nourishment… [They] migrate to Baja California from northern Pacific waters… AP, Feb. 1, 2015: Cold temperatures are suspected of killing some 150 sea turtles found in a lagoon of Mexico’s Baja California [the] environmental protection agency said [warm waters are blamed for record-setting deaths of California sea lions and West Coast sea birds ]… it would be difficult to determine the exact cause of death… investigators also would try to determine whether some sort of contamination might have played a role. In mid-January, federal inspectors found the bodies of 14 gray whales. Fox News, Jan 15, 2015: Four sea lions and 550 birds found dead [in] Baja California probably died as a consequence of climate change, Mexico’s Profepa environmental protection agency said… Changes in the ocean water temperature are forcing schools of fish to swim deeper NBC San Diego, Mar 20, 2015: A dead gray whale was found floating in the waters near Torrey Pines State Beach Thursday morning, San Diego Lifeguard officials confirmed. The young whale [was] approximately 15 to 20 feet in length - Reporter: Because it does not look like it had anything to do with humans, they believe that maybe the whale just got sick and died. California Gray Whale Coalition, Nov. 2014: The coast’s winter whale watching season brings real fear for visiting humpbacks and grey whales encountering radiation hot spots along West Coast waters as they migrate to and from Alaska and Mexico. The central Oregon coast’s whale watching training features more than 100 volunteers at 25 whale-watching sites… this year’s whale-watching volunteers have been trained in the dangers of radiation… there has been a rash of dead humpback whales washing-up along central Oregon… KION, Jul 3, 2014: A 35-foot-long humpback whale has washed up dead on a Central California beach… cause of death has not been determined. - Reporter: Researchers say the amount of whales found in distress this year is significantly more than in previous years… They usually only get 5 reports of entangled whales in an entire year. This year there have already been 8. ABC San Francisco, May 22, 2014: Dead Baby Humpback Whale Washes Ashore… They’re actually endangered, said Sue Pemberton with the California Academy of Sciences. So it’s really important, every single one that dies, it’s important to know why.… unlocking the mystery of why she died so young, only half the size of a full-grown humpback. Watch broadcasts: NBC San Diego | KION | ABC San Francisco
09:38 AM Sep 5, 2014 | 272 Killer whales
11:02 AM Sep 4, 2014 | 222
04:14 PM Mar 18, 2014 | 189 Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mar. 12, 2014: Ocean currents are driving those nuclear particles from Japan to our coastline, and more radiation is likely to be dumped into the ocean there is concern that the accumulation, especially of the long-lasting cesium-137, will eventually be harmful to sea life and us. certain models suggest that in 30 years, Cesium 137 levels in (killer) whales will exceed the Canadian guideline of 1,000 becquerels per kilogram for consumption of seafood by humans - 10 times the Japanese guideline. Scientists focus on whales because, like us, they are at the top of the food chain and eat a lot of fish. So, radiation levels in them is something like a canary in a coal mine for radiation pollution. Canada.com, Mar. 12, 2014: Researchers developed a model based on the diet of fish-eating killer whales The models suggest that in 30 years, Cesium 137 levels in the whales will exceed the Canadian guideline of 1,000 becquerels per kilogram for consumption of seafood by humans - 10 times the Japanese guideline. Juan Jose Alava of Simon Fraser University said, The Canadian government is the one that should be doing something, should be taking action to keep monitoring to see how these contaminants are behaving, what are the levels, and what is next. While the additional impact of Cesium 137 is unknown, it may negatively affect the immune system or endocrine system, Alava said. The impact on the animal needs to be studied. This is part of a cumulative impact on the marine environment. The results raise concerns for aboriginal people who maintain a diet heavy in fish. We might expect similar results because the diet of First Nation communities is based on seafood, Alava said. Humans at the top of the food web can perhaps see increasing levels in the future.
03:59 PM Apr 13, 2015 | 242 -8608- Top U.S. Nuclear Physicist: Iodine-131 lethal after ingestion of 30 billionths of a gram Alvin M. Weinberg, nuclear physicist (Director of Oak Ridge National Lab and pioneered the pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors used in nuclear power plants, worked on the Manhattan Project, appointed to President’s Science Advisory Committee during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations), 1973:
Rather, the worry is that in a very high-powered reactor, immediately after the chain reaction has stopped, the fission products at least momentarily continue to generate 7% as much energy… Thus a high-powered chain reactor must continue to be cooled for a considerable time after shutdown if fuel meltdowns are to be avoided. It was Edward Teller who some 25 years ago insisted with great prescience that in these respects nuclear reactors were potentially dangerous, and therefore they should be subjected to the most searching kind of technical scrutiny… The response of the engineer… was to build a… containment vessel around every reactor; the second [was] various back-up safety systems… to prevent the reactor core from melting. Why bother with the back-up cooling systems if the containment vessel in final analysis will catch whatever radioactive debris might be created in an accident and thus prevent harm befalling the public? And indeed this was the attitude in the earliest days… As long as reactors were relatively small we could prove by calculation that even if the coolant system and its back-up failed, the molten fuel could not generate enough heat to melt itself through the containment However, when reactors exceeded a certain size, then it was no longer possible to prove by calculation that an uncooled reactor fuel charge would not melt through its containment vessel. This hypothetical melt-through is referred to as the China Syndrome for obvious reasons. Since we could not prove that a molten fuel puddle wouldn’t reach the basement of a power reactor, we also couldn’t prove whether it would continue to bore itself deeper into the ground. Whether or not the China Syndrome is a real possibility is moot. The point is, however, that it is not possible to disprove its existence. Thus, for these very large reactors, it is no longer possible to claim that the containment shell, which for smaller reactors could be relied upon to prevent radioactivity from reaching the public, was sufficient by itself. In consequence, the secondary back-up cooling systems… must now be viewed as the ultimate emergency protection against the China Syndrome… if one is trying to be practically 100 percent sure of always being able to cope with a reactor meltdown, then one must… be absolutely certain that the engineered safety features, particularly the emergency core cooling system, will work as planned.
09:18 AM Apr 7, 2015 | 659 Sea star epidemic
10:26 AM Apr 6, 2015 | 425
09:25 AM Apr 3, 2015 | 754 Sea lions, turtles 13 baby gray whales, 55 dolphins, found dead
08:38 PM Mar 17, 2015 | 154 Alaska polar bears suffering lesions, seals sores
10:40 AM Mar 16, 2015 | 302 -8590- 10,000 baby sea lions dead on one California island - (VIDEOS)
11:38 AM Feb 21, 2015 | 140 Lesions prevent birds from eating, breathing -8572- California coast: Epidemic; mass die-off; lesions prevent birds from eating, breathing (PHOTOS)
04:26 PM Jan 22, 2015 | 204 Sea urchins
California coast: 15,000 baby sea lions die
12:59 PM Nov 18, 2014 | 359 Animals on sea floor looking sick or dead - everything’s dying
03:01 AM Jan 6, 2015 | 556
02:42 PM Feb 16, 2015 | 233 index: Navy
09:28 AM Feb 12, 2015 | 438
03:44 PM Aug 31, 2015 | 585
Little animals suffer too -8433.1- also see-[i]: New study reveals deaths and mutations increased sharply’ from exposure to Fukushima contamination, especially at low doses - ‘Small’ levels of cesium may be ‘significantly toxic’ - Smithsonian: In other words, things don’t look good for the animals living around Fukushima (PHOTOS -[i] [i]) 01:01 AM Sep 23, 2014 | 355
Flowers
02:21 PM Jul 15, 2015 | 173
10:09 AM Apr 22, 2016 | 386
08:16 AM Sep 29, 2014 | 517 index: bad rad food
[ii] 10:15 PM Mar 1, 2017 | 390
[iii] 05:01 PM Feb 25, 2017 | 81
[iv] 02:13 PM Feb 20, 2017 | 7
[v] 05:10 PM Feb 5, 2017
[vi] 02:24 PM Jan 29, 2017
[vii] -8736- Seaborne West Coast: Fukushima nuclear waste off shoreline of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska - Highest radiation off San Francisco (MAP-[vii]) -8736.1- also see: Fukushima nuclear waste detected along Southern California coast - Highest levels seen anywhere in North America since testing program began - 8.4 Bq/m3 of radioactive cesium measured near beach between Los Angeles and San Diego (VIDEO & MAP) Aug, 2015 -8736.3- also see: Unprecedented’: China bans all imports of shellfish from U.S. West Coast - Official: They’ve never done anything like that that I’ve ever seen - Includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska and N. California - Gov’t says it will continue indefinitely (AUDIO) Dec 13, 2013 -8736.4- also see: TV: Billions of mysterious creatures dead along West Coast - Literally covering all of Oregon coast - Washing up from California to Alaska - Expert: Death totals are staggering, it’s got to be billions (VIDEO) May 3, 2015 -8736.5- also see: Spike in radiation levels for West Coast? Abnormal readings on 8 of 18 EPA monitors for California, Oregon, Washington - Devices now undergoing quality review Mar 22, 2011 -8736.7- also see: BREAKING: Fukushima nuclear waste detected along Southern California coast - Highest levels seen in North America since testing program began - 8.4 Bq/m3 of radioactive cesium measured near beach between Los Angeles and San Diego (VIDEO & MAP) Aug 25, 2015 [viii] 07:52 AM Aug 24, 2015 | 266
[ix] 09:40 PM Jul 20, 2015 | 206
[x] 11:17 PM Jul 12, 2015 | 129
[xi] 09:04 AM May 3, 2015 | 233
[xii] Alaska polar bears suffering lesions, seals sores
[xiii] 05:22 PM Feb 22, 2015 | 227
[xiv] 02:21 PM Jan 13, 2015 | 332 Sick marine mammal surge on California coast
[xv] 08:14 AM Nov 4, 2014 | 146
[xvi] 01:06 AM Sep 26, 2014 | 261
[xvii] 09:00 AM Sep 10, 2014 | 180
[xviii] 08:20 PM Sep 6, 2014 | 352 Sea lions dying from organs falling out of place, tumors -8408- California sea lions dying from organs falling out of place, tumors, accumulation of puss inside bodies (PHOTOS) Marine mammal deaths reported by The Marine Mammal Center (Sausalito, Calif) since June 2014 (domoic acid-related deaths excluded): (12) Abscess: Collection of pus in tissue of t body (1) Carcinoma: Cancer that begins when altered or damaged DNA occurs so that cells become transformed, and begin to exhibit abnormal malignant properties. (1) Cardiomyopathy: Heart muscle disease – deterioration of the heart muscle, usually leads to heart failure (1) Coccidioidomycosis: Fungal disease - serious complications may occur in patients with weakened immune systems (2) Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation: Blood clots [that can] lead to multiple organ damage - clotting is disrupted - severe bleeding can occur (7) Neoplasia: Commonly referred to as a tumor - malignant neoplasm is a cancer (6) Otostrongylus: Lungworms in lungs or heart of seals (3) Peritonitis: Inflammation of tissue lining inner wall of abdomen - may result from infection (often due to rupture of a hollow organ) (4) Pneumonia: Inflammatory condition of the lung (6) Prolapse: Latin for to fall out - organs, such as the uterus, fall down or slip out of place - organs protruding through vagina or rectum (3) Pyothorax: Accumulation of pus in the pleural cavity (2) Renal Failure: Kidneys fail to adequately filter waste products from the blood (5) Septicemia: Potentially fatal whole-body inflammation caused by severe infection -8408.1- also see: CBS San Francisco: Record number of sick seals & sea lions - large pockets of green and yellow puss all over their body (PHOTO & VIDEOS) Apr 20, 2014 -8408.2- also see: Federal gov’t declares Unusual Mortality Event in So. California - 70% of all newborn sea lions may be dying - Testing for toxins, infectious agents (VIDEO) Mar 28, 2013 -8408.3- also see: Alarm as record numbers of seals and sea lions ‘starving to death’ along California coast - calls coming nonstop - washing ashore May 4, 2014 -8408.4- also see: NBC: Record level of sick or injured California seals and sea lions turning up - numbers are extraordinary - pups should be weighing 2x or 3x as much, severely malnourished (VIDEO) Apr 18, 2014 [xix] 02:05 PM Aug 22, 2014 | 175 [xx] 10:03 AM Jun 18, 2011 | 19 [xxi] 12:29 AM Aug 15, 2014 | 356 index: horse; May 6, 2015; skin Horses - skin falls off 1/3rd of body, covered in painful lesions, eyes swollen shut, liver damage, fainting -8368- TV: Mystery illness hits California horses - nobody will even tell us what it is -skin falls off, covered in painful lesions, eyes swollen shut, liver damage, fainting - Expert: Never seen anything like it in 40-year career (PHOTOS -[xxi] [xxi] & VIDEOS) - also, note similar condition of losing skin in marine mammals, here [xxi] -8368.1- also see: Biologist finds pink salmon that are canary yellow on Canada’s Pacific coast - Insides also yellow: Heart parts, gill arches, spines, cartilage in head - Spleens swollen, livers spotted, some with bugged-out eyes (PHOTOS) Oct 17, 2013 -8368.2- also see: Sickened Alaska animals getting more tests for Fukushima radionuclides - Oozing sores, bleeding, swollen internal organs, hair loss (PHOTOS) Mar 14, 2013 01:26 PM May 6, 2015 | 417 01:26 PM May 6, 2015 | 417 Seals & walrus suffer
-8368.4- also see: Eye swelling a symptom of thyroid disorder - I often hear how children’s eyes become swollen after being in radiation-contaminated sandboxes, says Japanese organizer… Remember the kitten? (VIDEO) Oct 31, 2011 10:19 AM Aug 14, 2014 | 241
[xxii] -8368.5- also see: ‘Marine Mystery’ in California: Toxic outbreak threatening marine life - Birds falling from sky, sea lions convulsing - Worst they’ve ever seen - Toxin hits record level, almost 1,000% above gov’t limit - Heart lesions, severe shrinking in part of brain, nervous system failure (VIDEO) May 3, 2014
[xxiii] 01:12 AM Aug 6, 2014 | 133 -8353- Alaska: New mystery disease much worse - could wreak havoc from Alaska to Mexico (VIDEO)
[xxiv] 07:49 PM Jun 20, 2014 | 129 Farm animals
[xxv] 02:41 PM May 10, 2014 | 29 -8223.1- also see: VIDEO: Extremely rare whale washes up in Northeast Japan - Just one sighting of species in history - similar creature found dead nearby Apr 14, 2015 -8223.2- also see: Mysterious deadly black fungus found on fish in Pacific Northwest - Gov’t: concern Fukushima radiation could be involved - Biologists investigating how this land-based mold is now appearing in ocean - Many reports of unusual rotting sores, growths, bumps, cancer (PHOTOS) -[xxv] May 21, 2015 -8223.3- also see: TV: Billions of mysterious creatures dead along West Coast - Literally covering all of Oregon coast - Washing up from California to Alaska - Expert: Death totals are staggering, it’s got to be billions (VIDEO) May 3, 2015 -8223.4- also see: CNN: Scientists puzzled as rare ‘sea monsters’ wash ashore in Southern California - Expert: 2 giant oarfish and saber-toothed whale in a week… What is going on? (VIDEO) Oct 19, 2013 -8223.5- also see: Officials in U.S. report very rare mutations in Pacific sea life - Never seen anything like this - Photos show red crabs completely white, shockingly bright blue… almost unnatural, or with yellow legs - Environment could play a role - Also observed recently by Japan (VIDEO) Jul 22, 2014
[xxvi] 02:21 PM Apr 5, 2014 | 159 Sea stars decimated on West Coast
[xxvii] 11:09 AM Mar 18, 2014 | 151
[xxviii] 03:29 PM Feb 12, 2014 | 87 -7085.1- also see: Study: Fuel materials introduced to ocean via drains at Fukushima plant, potentially serious contamination of marine environment - melted MOX fuel contains plutonium oxide -7085.2- also see: Plutonium is being discharged into Pacific Ocean from Fukushima plant; flowing out of ruptured containments - reactor water turns into ‘yellowish, fizzing liquid’ from damaged fuel rods - actually vibrates (PHOTO & VIDEO) Jul 1, 2014 -7085.5- also see: MOX fuel particles found over 100 km from Fukushima - Plutonium-239 levels ‘significantly enhanced’ after Reactor 3 explosion - nuclear fuel material transported in atmosphere across long distances (MAP)-[xxviii] Dec 5, 2014 01:21 PM Feb 12, 2014 | 92 -7084- U.S. scientists worry about Fukushima radionuclide plume (MAP-[xxviii]) -7084.1- also see: Previously unpublished map from gov't scientists shows Fukushima plume at Alaska coast (PHOTO) -7084.2- also see: Senior Scientist: Second radioactive plume headed to California - Effects of Fukushima will be increasing as front edge of large water plume arrives - Levels to rise for years - It’s a health and safety issue here yet no one testing ocean (VIDEO) Jan 19, 2014 -7084.3- also see: Fairbanks city council unanimously passes Fukushima monitoring resolution: Alaska and west coast of N. America in danger - No safe levels of radiation… constitutes grave risk - Alaska Senator: We need to be vigilant (AUDIO) Mar 15, 2014 -7084.4- also see: NPR Affiliate: Fukushima cesium detected in Alaska salmon sample - Radioactive plume has already reached West Coast - Concerned fishermen forced to pay for tests since officials not doing it - People don’t trust gov’t… they don’t trust corporations (AUDIO) Jan 16, 2014 -7084.5- also see: ‘Mystery disease’ on Pacific coast of Alaska - livers ‘crumble’- hearts enlarged, pale… Yellow lymph nodes… blood-filled lungs (PHOTOS) - Professor: Worrying there’s no answers, big public health concern - Testing carcasses for Fukushima radioactivity (AUDIO) (PHOTO-[xxviii]) May 16, 2014 -7084.6- also see: Fukushima Plume Arrives at West Coast - Expert: If this was of greater health concern, we’d be very worried; One model predicts levels over 1,000% higher than another, this is not really acceptable (GRAPHIC) Feb 25, 2014
[xxix] 01:25 PM Dec 10, 2013 | 201
[xxx] 07:35 PM Dec 9, 2013 | 61
[xxxi] 10:35 AM Nov 23, 2013 | 146 Die-offs of mammals, birds, reptiles in Western U.S. -6733.1- also see: Areas by U.S. nuclear plants are becoming ‘seismically active’; Studies underway right now - NRC ‘Official Use Only’: Quakes can actually happen almost anywhere (AUDIO) Jan 3, 2014 -6733.2- also see: Local TV: People came home to find animals with eyes burned out after TMI evacuation (VIDEO & PHOTOS) Feb2, 2012 -6733.3- also see: Gundersen: Deformities, stillbirths not being reported after Fukushima - Officials withholding truth about health effects - Gov’t suppressing studies on deformed animals (AUDIO) Oct 3, 2013 -6733.4- also see: Radio: Mysterious disease killing seals in Atlantic Ocean - Fukushima fallout testing underway by gov’t scientists (AUDIO) Sep 1, 2012 -6733.5- also see: Concern Fukushima impacting Alaska; Unusual animals showing up dead… Seals w/ unknown disease… 1st ever cases of avian cholera - ‘rare whale beachings’ in Alaska - Japan Paper: Mysterious sea creatures found one after another (PHOTOS-[xxxi]) May 10, 2014 -6733.6- also see: VIDEO: Extremely rare whale washes up in Northeast Japan - Just one sighting of species in history - Similar creature found dead nearby Apr 14, 2015 -6733.9- also see: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium---02-02-15 - Whitefish that had a bulged out eyeball and some type of growth around the cheekbone. Would like to know the cause of these observed abnormalities ---12-10-14 - Whitefish has a brownish moldy growth all over body. We would like to know more about what is going on with our fish and why this is happening ---10-24-14 - Trout appeared to have sores rotting or decaying… have never seen these sores before… We are still seeing a lot of fish with these kinds of conditions ---06-12-14 - A codfish that was caught with a deep cut or sore on it was pulled in… We are not really sure what happened to this poor cod, but we think it is unusual ---05-26-14 - Whitefish that had a growth on its dorsal fin. Other fish were also caught with a similar condition… ADF&G: This whitefish has… probably a neoplasm (cancer) ---02-17-14 - Fish… found with lesions on them… Other people also said they saw these bumps… elders who said they have seen fish with skin bumps like this once before… people are still worried because they are not sure what it is this time…. these bumps… were like puss. There are quite a few people who are worried. -6733.11- also see: CNN: Scientists puzzled as rare ‘sea monsters’ wash ashore in Southern California - Expert: 2 giant oarfish and saber-toothed whale in a week… What is going on? (VIDEO) Oct 19, 2013
[xxxii] 04:05 PM Nov 17, 2013 | 150
[xxxiii] 12:28 PM Nov 16, 2013 | 79
[xxxiv] 01:22 AM Nov 14, 2013 | 129
[xxxv] 05:50 PM Nov 7, 2013 | 82 Starfish
[xxxvi] 01:12 PM Nov 7, 2013 | 184
[xxxvii] 09:05 PM Nov 4, 2013 | 67 Sea star rips itself into pieces -6649.1- also see: Seattle TV: Warning, video of the (melting) sea stars might be disturbing - Scientists are so concerned about rapidly spreading die off on West Coast - Doubled in just a few days - Jellyfish numbers booming Nov 2, 2013 -6649.2- also see: CBS News: ‘Immense mystery’ as sea stars being wiped out along West Coast, could be gone for generations - bewildering disease is spreading and no idea what’s causing it, or how to stop it – Time-lapse shows all legs lost in 7 hours (VIDEOS) Nov 17, 2013 -6649.3- also see: Reports: Sea stars decimated on West Coast - SoCal ravaged as mystery disease spreads south; saw hundreds last year, now none - got hit really hard - mortality event like this never before documented - turning to ‘bacterial goop’ (RADIO) Apr 5, 2014 -6649.4- also see: UC Berkeley Professor: California seeing Fukushima fallout won’t be a surprise - ‘Especially concerned’ after radioactive leaks at plant were admitted - not terribly confident in information Japan is sharing Jan 19, 2014 -6649.5- also see: NBC Nightly News: Another highly troubling report - what’s going on in the Pacific - Millions of starfish ‘melt away’ from Alaska to California - Fukushima radiation ‘not ruled out’ as factor in epidemic - very different than anything seen before (VIDEO) Dec 1, 2013 [xxxviii] 02:56 AM Oct 2, 2013 | 33
[xxxix] 04:35 PM Sep 28, 2013 | 29
[xl] 02:58 PM Aug 29, 2013 | 38
[xli] 04:44 PM Aug 2, 2013 | 10
[xlii] 12:31 PM Jul 31, 2013 | 29
[xliii] 10:01 AM Jul 13, 2013 | 131
[xliv] 10:59 AM Jul 11, 2013 | 64
[xlv] 04:30 PM May 21, 2013 | 83 -5899- Highest levels of Fukushima contamination in plankton east of Hawaii? (MAPS) -5899.1- also see: Mysterious die off of young salmon in Pacific Northwest - Healthy… and then they die heading out to sea - Far less plankton than normal - Researchers test for plankton and Fukushima contamination off West Coast (VIDEO) Aug 6, 2014 -5899.2- also see: Gov’t scientists concerned Atlantic Ocean to be contaminated by Fukushima plume now in Pacific - Currents would carry it to U.S. East Coast (PHOTOS) Dec 21, 2013 -5899.3- also see: High concentrations of radiation hit U.S. and Canada - Plume rich in Cesium-137 and close to surface from Vancouver southward - See also Hawaii, Florida (MAPS) Oct 28, 2011 -5899.4- also see: French gov’t map shows ‘maximum’ radiation directly over Hawaii March 21, 2011 - Highest levels of anywhere in world, including Fukushima (GRAPHIC) Feb 9, 2014 -5899.5- also see: Forecast: ‘Most’ Fukushima nuclear particles will move east across Pacific - Narrow line of radioactive pollutants to cross ocean this year - Uses decades of data (GRAPHIC) Feb 17, 2014
[xlvi] 10:13 AM May 15, 2013 | 32
[xlvii] 10:47 PM May 6, 2013 | 29 -5845- South Carolina, Savannah site: Mystery bacteria at U.S. nuclear site - will be killed before being studied (PHOTO)
[xlviii] 02:34 PM Sep 7, 2012 | 67
[xlix] 05:34 AM Sep 1, 2012 | 83
[l] 05:02 AM Aug 20, 2012 | 21 -4063- Mystery yellow substance on rooftop near Tokyo has cesium at 177,000 Bq/kg (VIDEO)
[li] 07:00 PM Jun 14, 2012 | 34
[lii] 12:10 AM Apr 29, 2012 | 29
[liii] 03:07 PM Apr 18, 2012 | 59 -3106- ‘Vomiting road workers hospitalized after exposing mysterious nuclear waste’
[liv] 10:12 AM Mar 20, 2012 | 84 -2887- Pieces of highly radioactive mystery black substance cling to magnet (VIDEO)
[lv] 01:37 PM Mar 7, 2012 | 39 index: snow
[lvi] 09:47 AM Feb 17, 2012 | 27
[lvii] 07:40 AM Feb 16, 2012 | 58 -2618- Mystery black substance has 1,000,000+ Bq/kg of cesium - Seen all over Minami Soma
[lviii] 01:46 PM Jan 5, 2012 | 32 -2184- Many cases of mysterious illnesses - I hear that malformed babies are born
[lix] 06:20 PM Dec 13, 2011 | 74 -1992- Report: Famous Japanese women blogging about mysterious bruises-[lix] (PHOTOS)
[lx] 07:42 PM Sep 4, 2015 | 1,086 Seals, whales, sea lions, otters, birds -8706- West Coast animals. Alaska-to-California – whale disoriented; sea lions, seals, otters, birds disoriented, seizures; 30 whales tangle in nets; moose disoriented, swims in circles (PHOTOS & VIDEO) 06:45 PM Sep 2, 2015 | 631 EXTINCTION-LEVEL EVENT NOTE PHOTOS OF ALL SEA LIFE DEAD ON BEACH - ALSO NOTE PLUTONIUM-RADIONUCLIDE HOT SPOTS IN PACIFIC OCEAN WILL CONTINUE KILLING FOR HUNDREDS TO THOUSANDS OF YEARS -8705- West Coast: Whale strandings, cancer in seals, collapse of fish stocks (PHOTOS-) and (VIDEO - whale final gasps on beach) VOA transcript, Sep 1, 2015 (emphasis added): Sharp Rise in Whale Deaths Being Investigated - Since May, 30 dead whales have washed ashore on the Gulf of Alaska. (Deborah Fauquier, NOAA): ‘And the average for the whole year generally is 8, so it’s definitely significantly elevated and for us that was a reason for concern.’ The Extreme Mortality Event, as scientists are calling it, has triggered an investigation. Huffington Post, Sep 1, 2015: Radiation in the Ocean - The West Coast of the United States seems under siege by negative environmental news… and numerous accounts of unusual coastal events: algae blooms, whale strandings, cancer in seals, collapse of fish stocks, and more… One argument has been the effect of radiation leaking from the [Fukushima] nuclear power plant reactors… and has been thereafter distributed by ocean currents; indeed there is evidence of a plume of increased concentration of Cesium-134, and other radioactive elements that have been observed at unprecedented levels, spreading out some 5,000 miles into the Pacific… In April of this year, there were headlines declaring that Fukushima radiation has reached the North American Shore and concerns were raised, spread through the Internet and press, that this was surely the cause of these otherwise inexplicable anomalous natural events. There is no Federal agency that funds monitoring of radiation in coastal water… So, yes, and no. No definitive conclusion, no clear argument that radiation is the cause of those coastal events which distress us so… The question is immensely important… A Plus, Aug 27, 2015: The Story Behind This Picture Is So Mysterious, Scientists Are Scratching Their Heads; What is going on here?!… the number has skyrocketed. Thirty whales spanning at least four species have been found… NOAA Fisheries scientists and partners are very concerned about the large number of whales stranding in the western Gulf of Alaska in recent months, Dr. Teri Rowles of the NOAA said… these enormous, gorgeous animals are dying in such high numbers. VOA, Sep 1, 2015: While President Barack Obama is in Alaska, he might have this question: Why have 30 dead whales washed ashore… [NOAA's] Fauquier said the extreme mortality event was complicated… Fauquier noted that in the ocean, toxins move up the food chain. Some of the whales actually filter the phytoplankton and the zooplankton… they get the toxins through that method…. as you go higher up the food web, more toxin gets concentrated.… NOAA hopes to explain why the whales died and why they perished in such great numbers. Cordova Times, Aug 28, 2015: Whales..Thirty dead whales ….And no one knows why… when thirty of them die in four months, three times the usual rate, something is not right…. between 700 deaths over the years, scientists have managed to perform two full necropsies. For this particular event, they’ve done one limited necropsy… While they keep an eye on algae, they have been testing all possibilities. Possibilities like fallout from Fukushima, and while they did radiation testing as part of the limited autopsy, it came back with background levels that would occur normally in Alaska, said Julie Speegle, speaking on behalf of NOAA. Newsweek, Aug 27, 2015: Over the last few months, dead whales have been appearing regularly on beaches along the Northern California coast. In the same period, 30 whale carcasses have washed up along the coast of Alaska, puzzling scientists. Washington Post, Aug 30, 2015: Concerns mount as whales are found dead in Gulf of Alaska - Researchers are scrambling to determine what’s behind the death of 30 whales… Other dead whales have been reported off the coast of British Columbia…. starvation or disease could be behind the deaths… The more likely culprit is unusual water conditions. NPR, Sep 1, 2015: Researchers say record low oxygen levels in Hood Canal are causing marine life to die off. Marine life is struggling to survive… We have been seeing lots and lots of dead fish on beaches, said Seth Book, with the Skokomish Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources… This is really the worst year in terms of the oxygen, said Jan Newton, an oceanography professor at the University of Washington…
[lx]
[lx]
[lxi] 02:03 PM Mar 7, 2014 | 231 Environmental Science & Technology (ACS Publications), March 6, 2014: Isotopic compositions of 236U and Pu isotopes in Black Substances collected from roadsides in Fukushima Prefecture: fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident - Black colored road dusts were collected in high radiation areas in Fukushima Prefecture. Measurement of 236U and Pu isotopes and 134,137Cs in samples was performed in order to confirm whether refractory elements such as U and Pu from the fuel core were discharged The concentrations of 134,137Cs in all samples were exceptionally high, ranging from 0.43 to 17.7 MBq/kg, respectively. 239+240Pu was detected at low levels, ranging from 0.18 to 1.14 Bq/kg and with high 238Pu/239+240Pu activity ratios of 1.64 to 2.64. 236U was successfully determined in the range 0.28 to 6.74 x10^-4 Bq/kg. The observed activity ratios for 236U/239+240Pu were in reasonable agreement with those calculated for the fuel core inventories, indicating that trace amounts of U from the fuel cores were released together with Pu isotopes, but without large fractionation. The quantities of U and 239+240Pu, emitted to the atmosphere were estimated as 2.3×10^9 Bq (150 g) and 3.9×10^6 Bq (580 mg), respectively. fractionation between volatile and refractory radionuclides associated with the dispersal/deposition processes with distance from the FDNPP was found. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, June 2014: Isotopic Pu, Am and Cm signatures in environmental samples contaminated by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident - Dust samples from the sides of roads (black substances) have been collected together with litter and soil samples at more than 100 sites contaminated heavily in the 20-km exclusion zones around Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) (Minamisoma City, and Namie, Futaba and Okuma Towns), in Iitate Village located from 25 to 45 km northwest of the plant and in southern areas from the plant. Isotopes of Pu, Am and Cm have been measured in the samples to evaluate their total releases into the environment When these activity ratios were compared with those for fuel core inventories in the FDNPP accident estimated by a group at JAEA, except 239,240Pu/137Cs activity ratios, fairly good agreements were found, indicating that transuranic nuclides, probably in the forms of fine particles, were released into the environment without their large fractionations.
Marco Kaltofen, President at Boston Chemical Data Corp. & Doctoral student researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute: We kept hearing reports about something unusual, a black dust we finally got a very small sample of that What’s different about this material is unlike a lot of the soil and dust samples we’ve gotten, there’s a real uniformity to this stuff. It’s a single substance. It’s not a mix of mineral particles and pieces of dead bugs and plant matter and dust particles. It’s actually very homogenous and uniform when you look at it under the microscope. And it doesn’t look like the surrounding soils. And it is much more intensely radioactive than any other soil or dust sample we’ve gotten from around Fukushima Daiichi. So this material is different. It’s not a natural soil. There’s something unusual happening with this stuff. The sample had fairly high levels of radium 226. Now that’s not a radioisotope that we hear as much about. The radium 226 has almost as much activity as the radioactive Cesium in the sample. Radium 226 is a degradation product of uranium and we can’t really detect the uranium directly. And this tells me that this particle contains not only fission waste products from the reactor but very likely contains a concentrated unburned nuclear fuel. And that’s unusual. This sample had by far the highest level of uranium daughters that we’ve seen in a dust or soil sample. We’re actually seeing material that might well have come from inside a failed fuel assembly. Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds’ Chief Engineer: Okay. When I hear that, that’s clear evidence that the containment was breached. The interesting thing to me is that when I hear black, I think of like algae or fungi or something like that. But you’re saying this is not an organic substance. Is that right? Kaltofen: No. It’s not an organic substance. It’s a mixture of very small particles and just the way they aggregate gives it the appearance of being black, but it’s - it probably - I won’t say optical illusion, but it’s an optical effect of the size of the particles and the way they’re joined together. Gundersen: Are these particles light enough for people to ingest them or breathe them in? Kaltofen: Well, certainly they could be ingested - right now I would say they’re much more an ingestion hazard. And that usually tends to target children and agricultural workers. A child on average consumes between 100 and 200 milligrams of soil a day because of hand-to-mouth activity. So that’s something to really think about.
[lxii] 12:34 PM Feb 18, 2014 | 119 Hanford -8006.1- also see: New data shows babies missing brains at 2,500% national rate in county by nuclear site - Mother: Officials shut me down the minute I mentioned Hanford! - Experts: No birth defect more extreme; most significant impact of radiation on developing embryos (AUDIO) Nov 30, 2014 -8006.3- Rapid rise in babies with missing brains and spinal cords sticking out in area surrounding most contaminated nuclear site in U.S. - Mother: Actual number way higher than officials report (VIDEO) Sep 16, 2014
[lxiii] 03:29 PM Feb 12, 2014 | 87 -7085.1- also see: Study: Fuel materials introduced to ocean via drains at Fukushima plant, potentially serious contamination of marine environment - melted MOX fuel contains plutonium oxide -7085.2- also see: Plutonium is being discharged into Pacific Ocean from Fukushima plant; flowing out of ruptured containments - reactor water turns into ‘yellowish, fizzing liquid’ from damaged fuel rods - actually vibrates (PHOTO & VIDEO) Jul 1, 2014 -7085.5- also see: MOX fuel particles found over 100 km from Fukushima - Plutonium-239 levels ‘significantly enhanced’ after Reactor 3 explosion - nuclear fuel material transported in atmosphere across long distances (MAP)-[lxiii] Dec 5, 2014 01:21 PM Feb 12, 2014 | 92 -7084- U.S. scientists worry about Fukushima radionuclide plume (MAP-[lxiii]) -7084.1- also see: Previously unpublished map from gov't scientists shows Fukushima plume at Alaska coast (PHOTO) -7084.2- also see: Senior Scientist: Second radioactive plume headed to California - Effects of Fukushima will be increasing as front edge of large water plume arrives - Levels to rise for years - It’s a health and safety issue here yet no one testing ocean (VIDEO) Jan 19, 2014 -7084.3- also see: Fairbanks city council unanimously passes Fukushima monitoring resolution: Alaska and west coast of N. America in danger - No safe levels of radiation… constitutes grave risk - Alaska Senator: We need to be vigilant (AUDIO) Mar 15, 2014 -7084.4- also see: NPR Affiliate: Fukushima cesium detected in Alaska salmon sample - Radioactive plume has already reached West Coast - Concerned fishermen forced to pay for tests since officials not doing it - People don’t trust gov’t… they don’t trust corporations (AUDIO) Jan 16, 2014 -7084.5- also see: ‘Mystery disease’ on Pacific coast of Alaska - livers ‘crumble’- hearts enlarged, pale… Yellow lymph nodes… blood-filled lungs (PHOTOS) - Professor: Worrying there’s no answers, big public health concern - Testing carcasses for Fukushima radioactivity (AUDIO) (PHOTO-[lxiii]) May 16, 2014 -7084.6- also see: Fukushima Plume Arrives at West Coast - Expert: If this was of greater health concern, we’d be very worried; One model predicts levels over 1,000% higher than another, this is not really acceptable (GRAPHIC) Feb 25, 2014 12:15 PM Feb 12, 2014 | 68 index: snow Strontium 90 [lxiv] 08:57 PM Dec 1, 2012 | 24 -
[lxiv] In the midst of the domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil- and gas-drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying Earlier this year, Michelle Bamberger, an Ithaca veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, published the first (and, so far, only) peer-reviewed report to suggest a link between fracking and illness in food animals. The authors compiled case studies of twenty-four farmers in six shale-gas states whose livestock experienced neurological, reproductive and acute gastrointestinal problems. Exposed either accidentally or incidentally to fracking chemicals in the water or air, scores of animals have died. The death toll is insignificant when measured against the nation’s livestock population (some 97 million beef cattle go to market each year), but environmental advocates believe these animals constitute an early warning. In Louisiana, seventeen cows died after an hour’s exposure to spilled fracking fluid. (Most likely cause of death: respiratory failure.) In north central Pennsylvania, 140 cattle were exposed to fracking wastewater when an impoundment was breached. Approximately seventy cows died; the remainder produced eleven calves, of which only three survived. In western Pennsylvania, an overflowing waste pit sent fracking chemicals into a pond and a pasture where pregnant cows grazed: half their calves were born dead. Ever since a heater-treater unit, which separates oil, gas and brine, blew out on a drill pad a half-mile upwind of Jacki Schilke's North Dakota ranch, her own creek has been clogged with scummy growth, and it regularly burps up methane. No one can tell me what’s going on, she says. But since the blowout, her creek has failed to freeze, despite temperatures of forty below. (Testing found sulfate levels of 4,000 parts per million: the EPA’s health goal for sulfate is 250 parts per million.) Schilke’s troubles began in the summer of 2010, when a crew working at this site continued to force drilling fluid down a well that had sprung a leak. Soon, Schilke’s cattle were limping, with swollen legs and infections. Cows quit producing milk for their calves; they lost from sixty to eighty pounds in a week; and their tails mysteriously dropped off.
[lxv] 09:32 PM Mar 31, 2015 | 504
[lxvi] Nuclear Power Makes Global Warming Worse Arnie Gundersen and Grayson Webb, both of Fairewinds.org, appeared on CCTV, December 7, 2016, interviewed by Margaret Harrington
[lxvii] 08:09 AM Nov 22, 2011 | 34
[lxviii] http://enenews.com/13-baby-gray-whales-55-dolpins-found-dead-west-coast-corpses-sea-lions-birds-sea-turtles-decomposing-rash-dead-humpback-whales-oregon-fear-whales-encountering-radiation-hot-spots-whale-watchi New Mexico St. Univ., Mar 15, 2015 (emphasis added): What’s Killing Baja’s Marine Animals? Dead gray whales and dolphins. Corpses of sea lions, birds and sea turtles decomposing on the beach. Since the beginning of the year, the coasts of Baja California have been the scene of multiple discoveries of dead marine animals. The latest find was reported last week… 55 dead dolphins and 4 sea lions… [The gov't will] probe the reasons for the mysterious deaths. In mid-January… 550 dead sea birds and 4 dead sea lions near San Felipe. Another zone of mystery surrounds the Laguna Ojo de Liebre… where 150 dead sea turtles were discovered at the end of January. About two weeks earlier, 14 lifeless gray whales (13 babies and 1 adult) and 16 dead sea turtles were found in the same area… Mexican authorities hypothesized that sea turtles… could be succumbing to hypothermia [and] baby gray whales were dying from lack of nourishment… [They] migrate to Baja California from northern Pacific waters… AP, Feb. 1, 2015: Cold temperatures are suspected of killing some 150 sea turtles found in a lagoon of Mexico’s Baja California [the] environmental protection agency said [warm waters are blamed for record-setting deaths of California sea lions and West Coast sea birds ]… it would be difficult to determine the exact cause of death… investigators also would try to determine whether some sort of contamination might have played a role. In mid-January, federal inspectors found the bodies of 14 gray whales. Fox News, Jan 15, 2015: Four sea lions and 550 birds found dead [in] Baja California probably died as a consequence of climate change, Mexico’s Profepa environmental protection agency said… Changes in the ocean water temperature are forcing schools of fish to swim deeper NBC San Diego, Mar 20, 2015: A dead gray whale was found floating in the waters near Torrey Pines State Beach Thursday morning, San Diego Lifeguard officials confirmed. The young whale [was] approximately 15 to 20 feet in length - Reporter: Because it does not look like it had anything to do with humans, they believe that maybe the whale just got sick and died. California Gray Whale Coalition, Nov. 2014: The coast’s winter whale watching season brings real fear for visiting humpbacks and grey whales encountering radiation hot spots along West Coast waters as they migrate to and from Alaska and Mexico. The central Oregon coast’s whale watching training features more than 100 volunteers at 25 whale-watching sites… this year’s whale-watching volunteers have been trained in the dangers of radiation… there has been a rash of dead humpback whales washing-up along central Oregon… KION, Jul 3, 2014: A 35-foot-long humpback whale has washed up dead on a Central California beach… cause of death has not been determined. - Reporter: Researchers say the amount of whales found in distress this year is significantly more than in previous years… They usually only get 5 reports of entangled whales in an entire year. This year there have already been 8. ABC San Francisco, May 22, 2014: Dead Baby Humpback Whale Washes Ashore… They’re actually endangered, said Sue Pemberton with the California Academy of Sciences. So it’s really important, every single one that dies, it’s important to know why.… unlocking the mystery of why she died so young, only half the size of a full-grown humpback. Watch broadcasts: NBC San Diego | KION | ABC San Francisco [lxix] The Press Democrat, Dec 25, 2016 [lxx] 12:15 PM Feb 12, 2014 | 68 index: snow Strontium 90
[lxxi] 09:04 PM Dec 22, 2013 | 94 index: Navy index: snow
[lxxii] 11:07 AM Feb 14, 2013 | 1 index: snow
[lxxiii] 11:53 AM Feb 9, 2013 | 43 index: snow
[lxxiv] 02:01 PM Jan 23, 2013 | 57 index: snow
[lxxv] 09:16 AM Mar 8, 2012 | 52 index: snow
[lxxvi] 01:37 PM Mar 7, 2012 | 39 index: snow
[lxxvii] 01:07 PM Feb 12, 2012 | 37 index: snow -2571- Official: Flakes fell like snow after first Fukushima explosion - like a movie
[lxxviii] 02:02 PM Jan 20, 2012 | 39 index: snow -2329- Iodine-131 detected in Tokyo snow on Jan. 20 [lxxix] 10:40 AM Jan 25, 2014 | 232 Pulsed release - Alaska seal lesions, deaths (Note: The following two endnotes accompany this info.) Alaska Marine Science Symposium (pdf), Jan. 20-24, 2014 (emphasis added): 2011 Fukushima Fall Out: Aerial Deposition On To Sea Ice Scenario And Wildlife Health Implications To Ice-Associated Seals (Dr. Doug Dasher, John Kelley, Gay Sheffield, Raphaela Stimmelmayr). We present results on gamma analysis (cesium 134 and 137) of muscle tissue from control and diseased seals, and discuss wildlife health implications from different possible routes of exposure to Fukushima fallout to ice seals. Since the Fukushima fallout period occurred during the annual sea ice cover period from Nome to Barrow, a sea ice based fallout scenario in addition to a marine food web based one is of particular relevance for the Fukushima accident. Under a proposed sea ice fallout deposition scenario, radionuclides would have been settled onto sea ice. Sea ice and snow editor’s note - index: snow would have acted as a temporary refuge for deposited radionuclides; thus radionuclides would have only become available for migration during the melting season and would not have entered the regional food web in any appreciable manner until breakup (pulsed release). The cumulative on-ice exposure for ice seals would have occurred through external, inhalation, and non-equilibrium dietary pathways during the ice-based seasonal spring haul-out period for molting/pupping/breeding activities. Additionally, ice seals would have been under dietary/metabolic constraints and experiencing hormonal changes associated with reproduction and molting. [lxxx] 08:58 PM Feb 23, 2017 | 43 -8848- Smoke billows from Japan nuclear plant - Possible fire reported near reactors - TEPCO doesn’t identify cause
[lxxxi] 05:01 PM Feb 25, 2017 | 81
[lxxxii] 03:50 PM Feb 10, 2017 -8843- Blast in nuclear plant — smoke billows from massive fire - people sick (VIDEOS)
[lxxxiii] 11:50 AM May 29, 2015 | 247
[lxxxiv] 02:14 PM Apr 29, 2015 | 183
[lxxxv] 10:40 AM Nov 17, 2014 | 75
[lxxxvi] 11:33 PM Oct 30, 2014 | 216
[lxxxvii] 06:03 PM Sep 30, 2014 | 648
[lxxxviii] 03:07 PM Sep 11, 2014 | 341
[lxxxix] 09:27 AM Feb 6, 2014 | 181 Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) - NM -7059- Imminent situation at U.S. nuclear site - Emergency operations center evacuated due to fire deep underground-[lxxxix] - One of most serious incidents on record since the plant opened in 1999 - Anonymous footage of thick black smoke coming from ground (VIDEO) These events could potentially harm people, our workers as well as it gives us a bad reputation because we appear to have made a mistake - inhalation is primary hazard with radioactive materials of this nature.
[xc] 11:57 AM Aug 15, 2013 | 8
[xci] 04:07 PM Aug 13, 2013 | 31 North St. Louis County, Missouri Bridgeton fire at West Lake nuclear landfill
[xcii] 08:01 AM Jul 28, 2013 | 166
[xciii] 05:17 PM Jun 7, 2013 | 25 -5938- France, Cattenom: Fire breaks out at nuclear reactor -plumes of black smoke seen from considerable distance (PHOTO)
[xciv] 11:08 AM May 3, 2013 | 12 -5828- Photo: Smoke coming from nuclear plant - Reactor shut down - Smoldering lagging on a turbine
[xcv] 12:32 PM Apr 21, 2013 | 55
[xcvi] 05:03 PM Mar 22, 2013 | 10
[xcvii] 12:22 PM Mar 9, 2013 | 40
[xcviii] 03:16 PM Mar 21, 2013 | 19 -5624- Radioactive dust in Tokyo after fog - 4,000 Bq/kg of cesium -5624.1- also see: Tokyo indoor dust contaminated with cesium at 1,730 Bq/kg -- Scientist: dust with Fukushima fallout is source of human exposure (VIDEO)
[xcix] 12:56 AM Jan 7, 2014 | 430
[c] 12:31 PM Jul 31, 2013 | 29
[ci] 09:04 PM Dec 22, 2013 | 94 index: Navy index: snow
[cii] -6948- also see: Photo captures moment containment vessel destroyed at Fukushima - Workers: White steam coming from reactor! Radiation spikes in central Tokyo! – U.S. Nuclear Official: Fukushima was nuclear power’s finest hour - everything worked as engineered (VIDEO) Oct 3, 2014
[ciii] -6887- Fukushima: Radioactivity release going on for almost 3 years now on massive scale; visible steam tip of iceberg - containment vessels ‘broken’ (VIDEOS)
[civ] 04:21 PM Jan 1, 2014 | 242
[cv] Published by the New York Academy of Sciences, Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, was written by scientists who used health data from 1986 to 2004. http://www.strahlentelex.de/Yablokov_Chernobyl_book.pdf
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Volume 1181 Chernobyl Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment
CONTENTS Foreword. Prof. Dr. Biol. Dimitro M. Grodzinsky, vii
Preface. Alexey V. Yablokov and Vassily B. Nesterenko, x
Acknowledgments, xiv
Introduction: The Difficult Truth about Chernobyl. Alexey V. Nesterenko, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Yablokov, 1
Chapter I. Chernobyl Contamination: An Overview
Alexey V. Yablokov and Vassily B. Nesterenko, 5
Chapter II. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for Public Health
Alexey V. Yablokov, 32
Alexey V. Yablokov, 42
Alexey V. Yablokov, 55
Alexey V. Yablokov, 58
Alexey V. Yablokov, 161
Alexey V. Yablokov, 192
Conclusion to Chapter II, 217
Chapter III. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for the Environment
Alexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Nesterenko, 223
Alexey V. Yablokov, 237
Alexey V. Yablokov, 255
Alexey V. Yablokov, 281
Conclusion to Chapter III, 285
Chapter IV. Radiation Protection after the Chernobyl Catastrophe
Alexey V. Nesterenko, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Yablokov, 289
Vassily B. Nesterenko and Alexey V. Nesterenko, 303
Alexey V. Nesterenko and Vassily B. Nesterenko, 311
Alexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Nesterenko, 318
Conclusion to Chapter IV, 327
[cvi] Chernobyl Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment
Chapter 11. Chernobyl’s Radioactive Impact on Microbial Biota Alexey V. Yablokov
[Abstract] Of the few microorganisms that have been studied, all underwent rapid changes in the areas heavily contaminated by Chernobyl. Organisms such as tuberculosis bacilli; hepatitis, herpes, and tobacco mosaic viruses; cytomegalovirus; and soil micromycetes and bacteria were activated in various ways. The ultimate long-term consequences for the Chernobyl microbiologic biota may be worse than what we know today. Compared to humans and other mammals, the profound changes that take place among these small live organisms with rapid reproductive turnover do not bode well for the health and survival of other species.
[Article] One gram of soil contains some 2,500,000,000 microorganisms (bacteria, microfungi, and protozoa). Up to 3 kg of the mass of an adult human body is made up of bacteria, viruses, and microfungi. In spite of the fact that these represent such important and fundamentally live ecosystems there are only scarce data on the various microbiological consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe. Several incidences of increased morbidity owing to certain infectious diseases may be due to increased virulence of microbial populations as a result of Chernobyl irradiation.
All microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) and microbiological communities as a whole undergo rapid changes after any additional irradiation. The mechanism of such changes is well known: inclusion and increase in the frequency of mutations by natural selection and preservation of beneficial novel genes that for whatever reason appear more viable under the new conditions. This micro-evolutionary mechanism has been activated in all radioactively contaminated areas and leads to activation of old and the occurrence of new forms of viruses and bacteria. All but a few microorganisms that have been studied in Chernobyl-affected territories underwent rapid changes in heavily contaminated areas. Our contemporary knowledge is too limited to understand even the main consequences of the inevitable radioactive-induced genetic changes among the myriad of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi that inhabit the intestines, lungs, blood, organs, and cells of human beings. The strong association between carcinogenesis and viruses (papilloma virus, hepatitis virus, Helicobacter pylori, Epstein–Barr virus, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and herpes virus) provides another reason why the cancer rate increased in areas contaminated by Chernobyl irradiation (for a review, see Sreelekha et al., 2003). Not only cancer, but also many other illnesses are connected with viruses and bacteria. Radiologically induced pathologic changes in the microflora in humans can increase susceptibility to infections, inflammatory diseases of bacterial and viral origin (influenza, chronic intestinal diseases, pyelonephritis, cystitis, vaginitis, endocolitis, asthma, dermatitis, and ischemia), and various pathologies of pregnancy. The long-term consequences for microbial biota may be worse than what we understand today.
[cvii] 04:18 PM Aug 31, 2014 | 170
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