Conservation & Wildlife

TOKYO — At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said Sunday.

Nearly nine months after Fukushima Daiichi was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami, the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat. Before the latest leak, the Fukushima accident had been responsible for the largest single release of radioactivity into the ocean, threatening wildlife and fisheries in the region, experts have said.

Tokyo, Japan, 9 June 2011 – Greenpeace International Executive Director Dr Kumi Naidoo today unveiled a sample of contaminated soil (1) from a Fukushima playground at a Tokyo press conference, criticising the Japanese government’s response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, and its ongoing failure to protect the health and welfare of its people.

Table of data collected and sampling done by Greenpeace at Fukushima city on June 7, 2011

WIDEN, Evac Zone: Greenpeace — Minute amounts of radioactive strontium have been detected in soil at 11 locations in Fukushima Prefecture, including the city of Fukushima 62 km from the crippled nuclear power plant, according to the science ministry.

Strontium tends to accumulate in bones and is believed to cause bone cancer and leukemia.

The Nuclear Safety Commission said they are unlikely to pose an immediate threat to human health but warned people about the intake of radioactive strontium into their bodies. (JapanTimes)

As power shortages loom across Japan this summer because of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, people are turning to a tested-and-true method of cooling down rooms by blocking the sun's rays--"green curtains."

Nonprofit groups and local governments alike are distributing free vine seeds and plants to encourage energy conservation by growing walls of green to provide shade to windows and exterior walls, blocking the relentless summer sun.

Animal shelter owner Ryo Taira has seen plenty of struggling dogs and cats since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, but even he was caught off guard when he learned of a small porpoise in big trouble.

Taira responded to reports that a finless porpoise had been spotted in a flooded rice paddy near Sendai, over a mile from the ocean. The 3-foot long animal had apparently been stranded there by the tsunami's massive wave.