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Sparking Fears of Airborne Radiation, Wildfire Burns in Fukushima 'No-Go Zone'
Contaminated
forests such as those outside fallout sites like Fukushima and
Chernobyl 'are ticking time bombs'
Kendra
Ulrich, senior Global Energy campaigner for Greenpeace Japan on the
Asakaze, a research vessel chartered by Greenpeace Japan, doing
radiation survey work off shore of Fukushima Daiich. (Photo:
Greenpeace)
1
May, 2017
A
wildfire broke out in the highly radioactive "no-go zone"
near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant over the weekend,
reviving concerns over potential airborne radiation.
Japanese
newspaper The
Mainichi reports that
lightning was likely to blame for sparking the fire Saturday on Mount
Juman in Namie, which lies in the Fukushima Prefecture and was one of
the areas evacuated following the 2011
meltdown.
The area continues to be barred to entry as it is designated a
"difficult-to-return zone" due to continually high
radiation levels.
Local
officials were forced to call in the Japanese military, the Ground
Self-Defense Force (GSDF), to help battle the blaze, which continued
to burn on Monday. At least 10 hectares of forest have burned so far.
"A
total of eight helicopters from Fukushima, Miyagi and Gunma
prefectures as well as the SDF discharged water on the site to combat
the fire," The
Mainichi reports.
"As the fire continued to spread, however, helicopters from the
GSDF, Fukushima Prefecture and other parties on May 1 resumed fire
extinguishing operations from around 5 am [local time]."
An
official with the Ministry of the Environment said Monday that there
has been "no major changes to radiation levels" in the
region, according to the newspaper, but added that they will
"continue to closely watch changes in radiation doses in the
surrounding areas."
In
a blog
post last
year, Anton Beneslavsky, a member of Greenpeace Russia's firefighting
group who has been deployed to fight blazes in nuclear Chernobyl,
outlined the specific dangers of wildfires in contaminated areas.
"During
a fire, radionuclides like caesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium
rise into the air and travel with the wind," Beneslavsky wrote.
"This is a health concern because when these unstable atoms are
inhaled, people become internally exposed to radiation."
Contaminated
forests such as those outside fallout sites like Fukushima and
Chernobyl "are ticking time bombs," scientist and former
regional government official Ludmila Komogortseva told Beneslavsky.
"Woods and peat accumulate radiation," she explained "and
every moment, every grass burning, every dropped cigarette or camp
fire can spark a new disaster."
【LIVE(NHK,1ch)】Fire fighting at large fire in Fukushima,Nouth Japon,etceteras.
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