Mutations and DNA changes caused by the Fukushima nuclear crisis are starting to be seen in surrounding forests, warn campaigners

Saturday, March 5, 2016
By Paul Martin

Greenpeace has warned of mutations in trees and DNA-damaged wildlife
Group said ‘vast stocks of radiation’ mean forests can’t be decontaminated
Comes as Japanese government prepares to lift evacuation orders around plant
An earthquake sparked a tsunami which caused meltdown at plant in 2011

By ALEXANDER ROBERTSON
DailyMail.com
4 March 2016

Greenpeace has warned the environmental impact of the Fukushima nuclear crisis five years ago on nearby forests is just beginning to be seen and will remain a source of contamination for years to come.

The 2011 magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake off Japan’s northeastern coast sparked a massive tsunami that swamped cooling systems and triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Radiation spread over a wide area and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes — many of whom will likely never return — in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

As the fifth anniversary of the disaster approaches, Greenpeace said signs of mutations in trees and DNA-damaged worms were beginning to appear, while ‘vast stocks of radiation’ mean that forests cannot be decontaminated.

In a report, Greenpeace cited ‘apparent increases in growth mutations of fir trees… heritable mutations in pale blue grass butterfly populations’ as well as ‘DNA-damaged worms in highly contaminated areas’, it said.

The report came as the government intends to lift many evacuation orders in villages around the Fukushima plant by March 2017, if its massive decontamination effort progresses as it hopes.

For now, only residential areas are being cleaned in the short-term, and the worst-hit parts of the countryside are being omitted, a recommendation made by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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