Animals
Animals are affected by the operation of nuclear power -- but are the most ignored of all the nuclear industry's victims. Whether sucked into reactor intake systems, or pulverized at the discharge, aquatic animals and their habitats are routinely harmed and destroyed by the routine operation of reactors. In addition, animals are forced to remain in highly radioactive areas after a nuclear disaster, such as around Chernobyl and Fukushima. Some of our latest stories about animals can be found on our newest platform, Beyond Nuclear International. And for more about how routine reactor operations harms marine wildlife, see our Licensed to Kill page
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April 14, 2021Fukushima Wastewater Will Be Released Into the Ocean, Japan Says
The government says the plan is the best way to dispose of water used to prevent the ruined nuclear plant’s damaged reactor cores from melting.
As reported by the New York Times.
The Washington Post has also reported on this story.
Thom Hartmann interviewed Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps on his national radio show ("Fukushima Nuclear Fish Coming to Your Plate, Happy?"). Here is the write up:
More nuclear waste is about to be released into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima. Where it will be absorbed by plants, eaten by small fish, who are eaten by bigger fish, and concentrated through a process called "bioaccumulation." Pretty soon those fish end up on your plate... Looking forward to a swim off the west coast? Enjoying your fish?
New nuclear power plant planned for Suffolk coast would be devastating for wildlife
Updated - Wednesday, May 27, 2020
- Independent - New nuclear power plant planned for Suffolk coast would be devastating for wildlife - Chris Baynes
Beyond Nuclear and Turtle Island Restoration Network launch lawsuit to stop sea turtle killings at nuclear power plant
Turtle Island Restoration Network and Beyond Nuclear filed a formal notice today of their intent to sue the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for failing to protect endangered species from illegal intake and harm at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant in Jensen Beach, Florida. For decades, the reactor site’s cooling water intake system, which draws in nearly three billion gallons of sea water daily, has routinely captured, harmed and killed thousands of marine animals, most notably endangered and threatened species of sea turtle as well as the endangered smalltooth sawfish. But it’s not just countless species of marine wildlife—two scuba divers were sucked through the unprotected cooling intake park on separate occasions, one of whom is suing the power plant for being entrained at the plant in 2016.Read the full press release.
Abnormal bugs found around Swiss nuclear power plants
A new study, believed to be the first to investigate health effects on insects near operating nuclear power plants, has found a highly significant twofold increase in morphological malformations on true bugs in the 5 km vicinity of three Swiss nuclear power stations. The study — Morphological Abnormalities in True Bugs (Heteroptera) near Swiss Nuclear Power Stations — was conducted by Alfred Körblein, a physicist and authority on the health impacts of low-dose radiation, and Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, who has studied and painted insects affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. (You can read more about Hesse-Honegger's work here.) Earlier studies on wildlife around Chernobyl and Fukushima found large and highly statistically significant incidences of radiation-induced mutation rates. Due to its ecological design, however, the Swiss study cannot answer the question whether the effect is caused by radiation from nuclear power plants. However, given the results, the researchers are calling for future studies to confirm their findings. Read the study.