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| PHÎÒÎ: AP |
The interest of people around the world in the recent accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is waning away. Unless the reactors don’t blow up people will soon take interest in more late-breaking news and the Fukushima radiation will slowly make way to Ukraine, which had its share of the “plutonium pie” when the Chornobyl NPP blew its top in 1986. The KW editorial looked into how Japanese plutonium and uranium can reach the territory of Ukraine and whether or not such a possibility can be avoided
Iodine in the sky
Last week the Ukrainian mass media informed that radioactive materials from the Fukushima NPP were detected in the atmosphere over Ukraine, which should come as no surprise given that the planet continues to turn and winds continue to blow.
Three weeks after the explosions at Fukushima emitted radioactive iodine and strontium into the atmosphere, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspection Bureau of Ukraine registered their presence in the atmosphere at the level of .003-.005 Becquerel per cubic meter of air or 1,000 times more than the permissible norm.
This fact became rather scary because all over the planet traces of iodine and strontium are being registered, but in Ukraine the entire system of radiation control of the atmosphere either malfunctioned or measuring devices are so outdated that their level of sensitivity is no longer sufficient.
The Japanese for whom losing face in the best traditions of the samurai as people of the world’s leading country in high-tech is an embarrassment are covering the ill-fated NPP with a cap made of cloth to avoid being reminded of such a disgrace.
Whatever the case, the micro-quantity of iodine and cesium from Fukushima will for long fly through the planet’s atmosphere and present a real threat to psychologically unstable TV viewers and readers of printed media. But they should stay calm as the real radiation from Fukushima is only just making its way to Ukraine.
Sushi crisis
At the very end of March, the Japanese admitted that plutonium was discovered beyond the limits of the NPP. In other words, the reactors blew and the nuclear fuel at the plant, which is a mixture of trans-uranium elements and plutonium with a radioactive semi-decay period of 24,000 years, was emitted into the atmosphere. These radionuclides will not fly through the atmosphere around the planet. Instead they will quietly migrate in the oceans and will accumulate in seaweed, mollusks and fish.
Seeing as these are the main ingredients of the Japanese culinary delight known as sushi popular all over the world, it looks as though the owners of sushi bars are in for difficult times.
A potential crisis of the demand for Oriental salmon and even saira in butter (saira is the only fish that scholars say migrate along the direct stream from Fukushima to Kamchatka in far eastern Russia and into the deep freezers of Ukrainian supermarkets) is also getting major publicity.
Junk fish
Russia catches nearly 4 million tonnes of fish every year, two thirds of which (approx. 2.5 mn t) are caught in the Pacific and 2 mn of them are pollack. Another 2 mn are caught every year off the shores of Japan, China, Vietnam, the Koreas and the U.S. The catch of saira is comparatively low at 88,000 t or a mere 0.2%!
However, while there is an abundance of cans of saira on supermarket shelves in Ukraine, mintai goes unnoticed. This begs the question: “Where does it all go?”
Mintai is not a very tasty valuable and as such not high in demand. Practically the entire catch goes for processing. First of all, it is used to make crab sticks that more often than not consist of mintai with red food coloring and aromatizers.
Secondly, it is used to make fish flour.
Fish flour contains a lot of protein, fish fat, vitamins and micro-elements and is a valuable additive to bird and animal feed.
If to look up “fish flour” in the Internet, you won’t believe your eyes when you discover where it is brought into Ukraine from, even from Mauritania. In short, this product is in high demand and a tonne of it costs from UAH 8,000-10,000. Flour is imported from Russia, Vietnam and the U.S., the world’s main catchers of mintai.
Atomic flour
Now, let’s get back to the issue of plutonium and uranium. If the reactors at Fukushima blow up and radionuclides get into the atmosphere, there is nothing to write about. After all, the human race has not yet learned how to manage the atmosphere. One can only hope that they are far from Ukraine and it will not be affected by a major dose of radiation. But if the radionuclides will quietly leak from the blown reactors, then we can expect to receive a door-to-door delivery of plutonium and uranium from Fukushima on our kitchen table.
Naturally, anyone can choose not to eat saira, salads with crab sticks and red caviar from the Far East and buy only Norway salmon, but an average person cannot control the situation with fish flour as those working in this industry add it to animal feed for which they have the green light from the government. Chickens, cattle and swine will consume it and then humans will eat it together with plutonium.
One may rant and rave saying “That’s impossible!”, but anything is possible. For example, in recent days the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case against high-ranking officials of the State Veterinary Service suspected of accepted major bribes for granting permission to import seafood products into Ukraine. In light of this, why does plutonium from Fukushima not end up in imported fish flour, but instead in chicken drumsticks, sausages and suet?
INFO
Bio pill from radiation
A wonder pill that would the human body immune to radiation remains a dream of scientists. At this point, there are only medications that slightly enhance the level of resistance of radiation cells. Such tablets are provided in the first aid kits of any modern-day medical sanitary army battalion and at any NPP.
The simple fact that the effectiveness of the best anti-radiation tablets is conditionally 100%, while the protective effectiveness of a shot of vodka is around 15%, is testimony to the benefits of such tablets.
In nature there is at least one anti-radiation medication with a level of effectiveness that scientists have not even dreamed about. When France was testing the atom bomb on the atolls in the Pacific Ocean, Soviet ships under the guise of industrial vessels were circling in the local waters. Scientists noticed that mollusks resembling mussels were the first living organisms to settle and thrive on the islands affected by the blasts and showing high levels of radiation.
Then they soaked the mussels in acid, added lye to neutralize them and began serving employees of nuclear power plants a tablespoon of the solution that turned out to be as effective as the strongest anti-radiation tablets and the scientists were conferred a State Award.
At the end of the 1980s, biologists at the Sevastopol Biology Institute of the Southern Seas extracted from mussels the most active substance that allows mollusks to withstand high doses of radiation. Scientists at the Institute of Oncology in Moscow even began testing the substance. But then the wave of “perestroika” hit, the field of science hit rock bottom and the institute was closed. However, this was not totally in vain. Today, the most effective anti-radiation panacea is raw mussels, but they should only be caught in the open sea. Mussels filter seawater and accumulate all the filth from dirty water inside their shells.
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