Mutant Daisies? Who Cares; Japanese Govt To Have People Return To Fukushima By 2017

Well, if you weren’t convinced that the Fukushima disaster has consequences far graver than the Japanese government is letting on, check out what the radiation has done to the plant life in the area.

マーガレットの帯化(那須塩原市5/26)② 右は４つの花茎が帯状に繋がったまま成長し，途中で２つに別れて２つの花がつながって咲いた。左は４つの花茎がそのまま成長して繋がって花が咲き輪の様になった。空間線量0.5μSv地点(地上高1m) pic.twitter.com/MinxdFgXBC

— 三悔堂 (@san_kaido) May 27, 2015

The picture was tweeted with a description that is translated as:

“The right one grew up, split into 2 stems to have 2 flowers connected to each other, having 4 stems of the flower tied belt like. The left one has 4 stems grow up to be tied to each other and it had the ring-shaped flower. The atmospheric dose is 0.5 μSv/h at 1m above the ground.”

Mind you, these daisies were located 68 miles away from the nuclear plant site. Also, these are daisies we’re talking about, a hardy weed that gardeners must constantly battle to prevent their more delicate plants from being overrun. One wonders what the effects on the sea life would be, after TEPCO “accidentally” dumped hundreds of tons of severely irradiated water into it on multiple occasions, “accidentally” used the wrong measuring instruments to keep radiation readings artificially lower.

Technically, the Japanese government considers 0.5 μSv/h, or millisieverts per hour of radiation, a safe enough level for “medium to long-term habitation.” CLEARLY, “safe enough” means potential mutations of flora, fauna and human habitants.

These mutations are known as “fasciation” or “cresting,” a typical symptom observed in plants that are grown in regions of high levels of radiation. In fact, these flowers are just the newest in a long line of mutations in the area: since 2013 mutant fruits and vegetables have been seen with growths that look like tumors. A study published in the journal Heredity in 2014 titled the “Effects from the Fukushima radiation disaster?” examined that a number of species, including birds, monkeys, and butterflies, “have been significantly impacted by the radioactive releases related to the Fukushima disaster.”

“Barn swallows with aberrant white feathers were first detected in Fukushima in 2012 and were observed in increasing frequencies in 2013 and 2014. Although such partial albinos are believed to have reduced probabilities of survival, there are sufficient data to suggest that this character can be inherited and may at least in part result from a mutation(s) in the germline, based on parent–offspring resemblance,” the study said.

Tokyo has already announced that it intends to cancel evacuation orders by 2017, and cut the compensation currently being paid to refugees by 2018. This heinous act will force people back into the area, regardless of what concerned activists and well-informed scientists have found.

Greenpeace has also released an evaluation of the forested region near the nuclear power plant, and it found that it is “impossible for people to safely return to their homes,” because of how “widespread” the contamination remains. Radiation levels are in fact 10 times higher than the maximum safety limit for human habitation:

“Stripping nuclear victims of their already inadequate compensation, which may force them to return to unsafe, highly radioactive areas for financial reasons, amounts to economic coercion,” Jan Vande Putte of Greenpeace Belgium said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: this is a political decision by the Abe Government, not one based on science, data, or public health.”

140,000 civilians were evacuated from some 12 miles of the nuclear plant. These people will have to return and face the consequences, all because its government is all too quick to sweep its problems under the rug  rather than acknowledge them.

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