Markus Distelrath/Pixabay , CC BY Awadhesh Jha, University of Plymouth It’s been just over a decade since the fourth most powerful earthquake of the modern era triggered a tsunami that struck Fukushima on the eastern coastline of Japan, causing thousands of deaths and leaving hundreds of thousands unable to return home. That tsunami was also […]
Chernobyl Radiation Surge ‘Cause for Concern,’ Say Scientists
Scientists monitoring the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine are detecting increased fission reactions inside an inaccessible chamber built around the radioactive ruins of a reactor that suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 1986—and they aren’t sure why. New Scientist reported this week that since 2016, researchers have detected a 40% surge in neutron emissions from a sealed […]
Genetic effects of Chernobyl radiation
In two landmark studies, researchers have used cutting-edge genomic tools to investigate the potential health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen, from the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. One study found no evidence that radiation exposure to parents resulted in new genetic changes being passed from […]
A radioactive isotope is showing up in honey
That natural, bee-produced sweetener you stir into your tea and lavish on your toast may be laced with cesium-137. It’s a radioactive isotope, Jim Kaste explains, a relic of the atom bomb tests of the Cold War. And there is a good chance that your delectable honey contains detectable amounts of the stuff. Kaste hastens […]
Radiation causes blindness in wild animals in Chernobyl
Vast amounts of radioactive particles spread over large areas in Europe. These particles, mostly Cesium-137, cause a low but long-term exposure to ionizing radiation in animals and plants. This chronic exposure has been shown to decrease the abundances of many animal species both after the Chernobyl and later Fukushima nuclear accidents. Damage caused by acute […]
Greenpeace Says Japan’s Plan to Contaminate Pacific Ocean With Fukushima Water Would Violate International Law
In a decision that sparked condemnation from environmental advocates, fisherfolk, and neighboring countries, Japan announced Tuesday a plan to dump over 1.2 million tons of stored contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The decision made by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet gives Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) the green light […]
Possible correlation shown between the partial meltdown at TMI and thyroid cancers
Penn State College of Medicine researchers have shown, for the first time, a possible correlation between the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station and thyroid cancers in the counties surrounding the plant. Three Mile Island (TMI), located near Harrisburg, Pa., had a partial meltdown accident on March 28, 1979. During the […]
Oil and gas wastewater as dust suppressant less than ideal
At the least, wastewater from oil and gas drilling should be treated in a waste treatment facility before it is used on dirt roads to suppress dust or deice roads. At the best, affordable, nontoxic dust suppressants should be developed and used, according to a multidisciplinary team of researchers. “Thirteen states in the United States […]
Low doses of radiation used in medical imaging lead to mutations in cell cultures
Common medical imaging procedures use low doses of radiation that are believed to be safe. A new study, however, finds that in human cell cultures, these doses create breaks that allow extra bits of DNA to integrate into the chromosome. Roland Kanaar and Alex Zelensky of Erasmus University Medical Center and Oncode Institute and colleagues […]
Melanin’s ‘trick’ for maintaining radioprotection studied
Sunbathers have long known that melanin in their skin cells provides protection from the damage caused by visible and ultraviolet light. More recent studies have shown that melanin, which is produced by multitudes of the planet’s life forms, also gives some species protection from ionizing radiation. In certain microbes, in particular some organisms from near […]