General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Fukushima - Unit 4 spent fuel removal >99% complete [View all]RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Last edited Fri Oct 24, 2014, 06:59 PM - Edit history (1)
Not sea stars.
The item in question is about is the Dept. of Energy's results of sampling of mussels in the Aleutians, where increased amounts of plutonium were found above the 2004 tests. It also found cesium 134 in increased amounts and that was described as being from Fukushima. But hey, you know that Fukushima is spread around the N. Hemisphere.
From my journal is this about that testing:
http://www.lm.doe.gov/Amchitka/Sites.aspx
Title: Department of Energy: Biological Monitoring at Amchitka Appears to Show Impacts from Fukushima Dai-ichi Incident.
The U.S. Department of Energy Office Legacy Management (LM) has a long-term stewardship mission to protect human health and the environment from the legacy of underground nuclear testing conducted at Amchitka Island, Alaska, from 1965 to 1971. Atmospheric monitoring in the United States showed elevated cesium activities shortly after the nuclear incident. LM scientists anticipated that atmospheric transport of cesium would potentially increase the cesium activities in the 2011 biological samples collected near Amchitka. Because cesium-134 has a relatively short half-life of 2 years and indicates leakage from a nuclear reactor, it is a clear indicator of a recent nuclear accident.
Because the Amchitka 2011 sampling event occurred soon after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the biota impacted by atmospheric precipitation showed the greatest impact (e.g., species that live in freshwater or shallow ocean waters) when compared to marine biota living in deeper water. This is because ocean currents are a slower transport process than wind currents. LM scientists anticipate that the marine biota will show the impacts of Fukushima during the next sampling event, currently scheduled to occur in 2016.
(One snip from report about the amounts found pg 226)
* Plutonium-239 4.194 pCi/kg Horse Mussel tissue