Even low-level radioactivity is damaging, says meta-analysis of published studies

13 November 2012 (University of South Carolina) – Even the very lowest levels of radiation are harmful to life, scientists have concluded in the Cambridge Philosophical Society’s journal Biological Reviews. Reporting the results of a wide-ranging analysis of 46 peer-reviewed studies published over the past 40 years, researchers from the University of South Carolina and […]

‘Severe abnormalities’ found in Fukushima butterflies

By Nick Crumpton, BBC News13 August 2012 Exposure to radioactive material released into the environment has caused mutations in butterflies found in Japan, a study suggests. Scientists found an increase in leg, antennae, and wing shape mutations among butterflies collected following the 2011 Fukushima accident. The link between the mutations and the radioactive material was […]

Chernobyl’s radioactive trees and the forest fire risk

By Patrick Evans 6 July 2012 Chernobyl, Ukraine (BBC) – Much of the 30km exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant is pine forest, and some of it so badly contaminated that a forest fire could create a devastating radioactive smoke cloud. Heading north from Kiev in Ukraine, you can see old ladies and their […]

Lessons for Japan from Chernobyl

By April Yee6 May 2012 In her purse, Ikuko Hebiishi carries a Geiger counter, one of two she owns. Wrapped in a protective plastic bag, it makes her feel safe by telling her exactly where radioactivity is dangerously high. Mrs Hebiishi is a city councillor for Koriyama, a town in the Fukushima prefecture 34 kilometres […]

Bird numbers plummet around stricken Fukushima plant

By David McNeill 3 February 2012 TOKYO – Researchers working around Japan’s disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say bird populations there have begun to dwindle, in what may be a chilling harbinger of the impact of radioactive fallout on local life. In the first major study of the impact of the world’s worst nuclear crisis […]

Video: What happened to Chernobyl children 7 years after the accident (from a Japanese TV program in 1993)

By arevamirpal::laprimavera 26 January 2012 When it was someone else’s problem (Chernobyl), Japan was telling the truth about the effect of radiation, particularly on children. Here’s Tokyo Brown Tabby’s translation and captioning of a TV program from 1993. Ironically, the female newscaster has morphed into one of the strongest proponents (even today) of nuclear power […]

Dörte Siedentopf on Fukushima nuclear disaster: ‘They haven’t learned anything from Chernobyl’

By arevamirpal::laprimavera7 January 2012 (UPDATE: Second part of the translation is posted, translation done by the reader Florian Zschage.) (H/T to the readers who did the translation and the summary of the original German article on TAZ. Thank you.) What struck me about the article interviewing Dr. Dörte Siedentopf, other than the negative health effects […]

20 most popular stories of 2011

It’s time for the yearly retrospectives on 2011, and we’re kicking them off with 2011’s most-viewed stories on Desdemona. It won’t surprise anyone to see that the triple meltdown at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant was the most popular event, with 9 of the top 20 stories. Most surprising is the continued popularity of a 2009 […]

Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone deemed too hot for tourists

By Jayne Clark, USA TODAY30 November 2011 A Ukrainian court has banned tourists from the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown less than a year after government officials declared the region safe and opened it for tours. Officials had said the 18-mile “dead zone” around the site of history’s worst nuclear accident was […]

Video: Children’s health issues and Fukushima radiation

  By arevamirpal::laprimavera30 OCtober 2011 […] ContAct, did an interview with Mika Noro, which was webcasted on July 14, 2011. Ms. Noro has been active in helping children in areas affected by the Chernobyl nuke plant accident, and after the Fukushima accident her organization has been setting up free medical consultations for mothers and children […]

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