» Science proved typhoons spread radioactive materials into waterways

2013/12/02

Typhoons that hit Japan each year are helping spread radioactive material from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the waterways, proved by a joint study by France’s Climate and Environmental Science laboratory (LSCE) and Tsukuba University in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Contaminated soil gets washed away by the high winds and rain and deposited in streams and rivers,

Studies have shown that soil erosion can move the radioactive varieties of cesium-134 and -137 from the mountains near Fukushima No. 1 into rivers and then out into the Pacific Ocean.

Typhoons “strongly contribute” to soil dispersal,LSCE researcher Olivier Evrard said, though it can be months later, after the winter snow melts, that contamination actually passes into rivers.

People who escaped the initial fallout 2½ years ago could now find their food or water contaminated by cesium particles as they penetrate agricultural land and coastal plains, the researchers warned.

Last year, the radioactive content of rivers dropped due to fairly moderate typhoons. But more frequent and fierce storms in 2013 have brought a new flood of cesium particles.

Scientists “concentrated mostly on the direct fallout from Fukushima, yet this is another source of radioactive deposits” that must be taken into account, Evrard warned.

Coastal areas home to fishermen or where people bathe in particular face potential risk.
<Media Report>
Typhoons spread Fukushima fallout, study shows (Japan Times)

Tags:contamination, news, outside experts

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