A new study has found that the meltdown of Japan's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant following the Tohoku earthquake in March 2011 has caused severe environmental damage which has now spread to the US mainland coast.
The Japanese government and the power plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), claim that the damage caused by the meltdown was minimal and it wouldn't have any long-term impact. However, researchers say that the damage unearthed is extreme, Disclose.tv reported.
They claim that Pacific Ocean is still suffering due to the nuclear power plant leaks. The damage caused in 2011 is considered to be irreversible, and new studies have revealed that the plant is still pumping out enormous amounts of radioactive and contaminated water into the ocean.
The researchers estimate that the amount of radioactive waste being dumped to the ocean is around 300 tons per day.
The study by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts claims that the contaminated radioactive water has now reached the US. It says that seaborne caesium 134 has been detected on the shores of Tillamook Bay in Oregon. Analysis has also provided evidence of Fukushima-originated isotopes.
Post Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Japanese government had claimed that there would not be immediate health hazards. But the statement became questionable after instant spike in the rates of deaths caused by cancer was observed in the Fukushima region.
The contamination has spread to other regions and Americans residing along the Pacific Ocean are now likely to be prone to health hazard such as bioaccumulation.
Bioaccumulation refers to the absorption of chemicals over a span of time by the body of an organism. The rate of this absorption is faster than the rate of its flushing out.
The study reveals that this exposure to contaminated radioactive water could immensely affect marine creatures and the consumption of these creatures could lead to severe health hazards.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), carelessness in inspection of fish products posed a threat of making thousands of people prone to radioactive toxins.
