The horrors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster have receded into the background for many as it no longer dominates the headlines, but in reality the threat continues and is being perpetuated by further incidents of adverse weather.
Typhoons hitting Japan have been contributing to the spread of radioactive substances leaking from the damaged nuclear plant and assisting their dispersal through the country’s waterways.
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A recent study investigating the side effects of hydraulic fracturing has found higher than normal levels of radioactivity, along with other contaminants such as salts and metals, in the waters of Blacklick Creek in Western Pennsylvania.
The report, which was published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, analyzed sediments found in river water near a fracking waste water plant, and discovered 200 times more radium than one would expect to find in nature.
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The effects of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster extend further than was predicted when the event occurred.
Evidence collated by officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s lab in Seattle suggests that fish swimming in the Pacific Ocean close to the plant are becoming contaminated which means that there is a serious risk of radiation entering the human food chain, even far beyond Japan’s territorial waters.
Merely choosing not to consume fish caught in the Pacific may not be sufficient to avoid the problem; certain species, such as tuna and sock-eye salmon, migrate very long distances spanning from Japan to North America, and contaminated tuna have also been found swimming in Californian waters.
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In the search for rogue nukes, researchers have discovered an unlikely tool: radio telescopes used by astronomers.
Working with astronomers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), researcher have analyzed historical data from the Very Large Array (VLA), a constellation of 27 radio telescopes near Socorro, New Mexico–and discovered that the VLA recorded a very similar pattern of disturbances during the last two American underground nuclear tests, which took place in Nevada in 1992.
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