MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“Farmland in parts of Japan is no longer safe because of high levels of radiation in the soil, scientists have warned, as the country struggles to recover from the Fukushima atomic disaster.

A team of international researchers said food production would likely be ‘severely impaired’ by the elevated levels of caesium found in soil samples across eastern Fukushima in the wake of meltdowns at the tsunami-hit plant.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, suggests farming in neighbouring areas may also suffer because of radiation, although levels discovered there were within legal limits.

‘Fukushima prefecture as a whole is highly contaminated,’ especially to the northwest of the nuclear power plant, the researchers said.

The study looked at caesium-137, which has a half life of 30 years and therefore affects the environment for decades.” Read more.

Study shows nuclear crisis may have polluted wider areas of Japan – “Radioactivity from a damaged nuclear plant may have contaminated wider areas of Japan than previously thought, a study by a team of researchers showed Tuesday. Radioisotopes of elements including caesium, tellurium and iodine were blown more than 500 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, including to the northern island of Hokkaido and western parts of the country, the team said. The plant suffered meltdowns at three reactors after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. A series of blasts and fires led to the release of large amounts of radioactive material into the environment.” Read more.

Flashback: Japan: Northwest Tip of Tokyo Tainted By Unusually High Amount of Fallout, Plant Mutations Continue To Be ‘Observed Everywhere’ – “An aerial radiation survey of the capital and Kanagawa Prefecture has revealed the northwest tip of Tokyo was tainted by an unusually high amount of fallout, while most other areas showed normal levels, a science ministry official said Friday. The results, released late Thursday, show that fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant contaminated part of the mountainous Okutama region on Tokyo’s western fringe. Radiation readings in the area were the highest of the two prefectures at 100,000 to 300,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per square meter.” Read more.