Chernobyl: A field trip to no man's land

"...an international team of a dozen researchers...are here to study the ecosystem that was left behind after the 1986 accident.

"They come here to find out what the impacts are of a nuclear accident on the life that is left behind.

"The team's latest studies on birds suggest that the contamination is linked to some unusual genetic effects.

"One member of the team, biologist Gier Rudolfsen from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, has been focusing on how the male birds' reproductive organs might be affected.

"The constant unzipping and replication of DNA required to produce millions of sperm cells each day means there are many opportunities for the biological assembly line to be broken." See BBC Nature for more detail and videos.

"Uncanny Terrain," a documentary about organic farmers facing Japan's nuclear crisis

"Uncanny Terrain" is a documentary in progress, about organic farmers facing Japan's nuclear catastrophe. A Chicago-based, Japanese American film making team will spend up to a year in the radioactively contaminated regions of northeast Japan downwind of the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which is still releasing radioactive steam onto the winds nearly five months after the radioactive catastrophe began. Fukushima and neighboring prefectures are famous for their small, family-run, independent organic farms. Husband and wife team Junko Kajino and Ed M. Koziarski have already captured powerful and moving video testimonies, such as of a dairy farmer, just 14 km from Fukushima Daiichi, who refuses to kill his herd, despite orders to do so, as his "only protest against the government and TEPCO." (see entry immediately below) The film makers are requesting monetary donations to enable them to continue their work.

Fukushima dairy farmer keeps cows alive as protest against Tepco and Japanese government

The YouTube video embedded in a recent UK Progressive article about Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe features a dairy farmer from a short distance downwind of the castrophically leaking reactors. Despite government orders to kill his cows, he refuses to, saying emotionally that keeping his herd alive is his only protest against Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Japanese federal government. He is calling for his herd to be used for research on how bad the radioactive contamination is in the area, in order to better protect people. The video also contains disturbing stories about the conditions for livestock on his neighbors' abandoned farms.

Animals suffer the effects of Fukushima nuclear devastation

The Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan has taken a massive toll on animals. The fate of wildlife is largely unknown, but domestic pets and livestock continue to suffer.  

Livestock were forcibly abandoned and left behind to starve. Cows contaminated with cesium five times the permissible level have been slaughtered. Buried in the ground, their radioactive carcasses will continue to contaminate the land for decades if Chernobyl is any indication.  

Family pets were left behind, tied, abandoned in homes, or left to roam the streets in search of food. Their owners were forbidden to return or were allowed to make brief visits to feed them, often too late.

A rabbit born without ears is stoking fears of birth defects and genetic damage among humans while whales have been caught that are found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium.

In the event of US reactor accidents, citizens are encouraged to evacuate with their pets. However, evacuation shelters and most hotels do not allow animals. Livestock, of course, cannot be evacuated.

Sign our petition to protect animals from nuclear devastation by supporting safer renewable energy.

Update on July 25, 2011 by admin

On July 18th, Reuters also reported on the radioactively contaminated beef in Japan, in an article entitled "Fukushima: 554 cows fed contaminated feed shipped."