http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2017/5/2/fire-near-fukushima-nuclear-site-could-spread-radiation-furt.html
[In practical human terms, radioactive contamination is forever.
links and video in on-line article]
Fire near Fukushima nuclear site could spread radiation further
BEYOND NUCLEAR PRESS RELEASE
Efforts to quench on-going fire in Fukushima zone hampered by high
radiation levels from 2011 nuclear disaster
Never over nuclear accident continues to spread radiation
TAKOMA PARK, MD, May 2, 2017 --A raging wildfire in the Fukushima
radiation zone not far from the March 2011 Japan nuclear power plant
disaster, demonstrates that a nuclear accident has long-term and
on-going effects that can worsen over time, says Beyond Nuclear, a
leading national anti-nuclear advocacy group.
The fire, which began on April 21 in the mountains outside Namie in
Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, is in an area where human entry is barred
“on principle” because of high radiation levels resulting from the
Fukushima nuclear triple meltdowns and explosions. The fire is being
fought from the air with helicopters spraying water.
“Just as high radiation levels barred rescuers from retrieving many
earthquake and tsunami victims five years ago, today firefighters are
being hampered from battling the blaze in the still contaminated area,”
said Paul Gunter, Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear. “This
makes extinguishing these radioactive fires more difficult which can
have far reaching effects,” he said.
The geographical range of radioactive contamination from the Fukushima
disaster could be expanded as smoke from the forest fire lofts
radioactivity into the air and spreads it to regions that were not
contaminated by the nuclear accident.
“The Chernobyl forest fire experience shows that forest fires in
radioactively contaminated areas re-suspend contamination in the area,
making it more available to natural processes like absorption by plants,
but also spreading contamination to areas of lower or no contamination,”
said Cindy Folkers, Radiation and Health Specialist at Beyond Nuclear.
The fire could be the first of many. A startling discovery made by Dr.
Timothy Mousseau, a professor of Biological Sciences at the University
of South Carolina, when studying the ecosystems in the Chernobyl
Exclusion Zone, revealed that fallen trees and leaf matter were not
decaying at the proper rate, creating a build-up of “tinder” on the
forest floor.
“In higher areas of contamination, forest matter fails to decay because
creatures responsible for decay like bacteria and fungi, do not function
properly in the radioactive environment,” Folkers explained. “This
‘zombie’ forest litter presents an increased forest fire hazard in the
radioactive landscape—exactly the place where you don’t want fire kindling.”
There have already been a number of serious forest fires around
Chernobyl in recent years, spreading radioactivity into wider areas.
However, there have not been adequate studies to monitor exactly where
the radiation goes.
“Forest fires are dangerous enough, but radioactive forest fires raise
the stakes for human health and safety because of the added difficulty
to reliably monitor where radioactivity is traveling in the smoke,” said
Gunter.
The Fukushima fire is a reminder that a major nuclear accident is never
really over or confined.
“The long-term implications of on-again-off-again fires in radioactive
forests are stark including re-contamination of so-called
“decontaminated” areas, and re-suspension of radioactive particles
thought to be out of the reach of natural processes,” said Folkers.
“This all points to the impossibility of containing man-made
radioactivity from catastrophes like Chernobyl and Fukushima, once it is
released. Resettlement in such areas would be unstable at best, with the
constant threat of increased exposures and resulting health impacts,”
Folkers concluded.
Download the press release in PDF.
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/press-releases/BN_Press_FukushimaFire_May2_2017.pdf
For additional information see:
The Mainichi link
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170501/p2a/00m/0na/003000c
Common Dreams link
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/05/01/sparking-fears-airborne-radiation-wildfire-burns-fukushima-no-go-zone