Led by Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist and marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) [www.whoi.edu/], the team found that the concentration of several key radioactive substances, or radionuclides, were elevated but varied widely across the study area, reflecting the complex nature of the marine environment. In addition, although levels of radioactivity in marine life sampled during the cruise were well below levels of concern for humans and the organisms themselves, the researchers leave open the question of whether radioactive materials are accumulating on the seafloor sediments and, if so, whether these might pose a long-term threat to the marine ecosystem.

The results appear in the April 2 online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

We address risks to public health and marine biota by showing that though Cs isotopes are elevated 10-1,000? over prior levels in waters off Japan, radiation risks due to these radionuclides are below those generally considered harmful to marine animals and human consumers, and even below those from naturally occurring radionuclides.

d1 said...



This is so untrue. The only country that is phasing out nuclear that I'm aware of is Germany, and that's purely due to a similar political coalition there as currently in Australia. Browse to the middle of this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country then look at the blue colours.

Currently, nuclear is the cleanest baseload energy possibility for Australia. The alternative is coal. Nuclear energy is a great fit for this country, as it is so naturally easy to mine, process and dispose of Uranium here. Of course, F_u_k_u_shima and Chernobyl will be the first words to come out of some whale-hugging "activists", but if one balances all the safety and environmental factors, nuclear is currently the way to go.

Macroscien said...
Nuclear power
If aircraft carrier size is on big enough ??

doggie said...

Wash your food with soap
Keep abreast

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said...
We address risks to public health and marine biota by showing that though Cs isotopes are elevated 10-1,000? over prior levels in waters off Japan, radiation risks due to these radionuclides are below those generally considered harmful to marine animals and human consumers, and even below those from naturally occurring radionuclides.