Butterfly mutations at Japan's nuclear plant.

[Swampy]

This is not surprising, though humans seem unaffected for now. I do remember, however, reading that wildlife has adapted to the disaster at Chernobyl.

I'm forever amazed at how life can flourish in the most amazing places.

[Sir John]

Swampy,


In the Chernobyl area there are many human 'squatters' living in the abandoned homes, also many wild animals and birds have been there living their lives without problems.

Also, after Hiroshima, many of the surviving residents moved back into the rubble and rebuilt their homes from it. They had nowhere else to go.

There were many health problems for them, but few for their children and NIL for their grandchildren.

No links, sorry.



SJ

[Deleted]

I've often been amazed how plants and trees could grow out of rocks. Just another factoid of the vagaries of science!

[jerryfmcompushaft]

The resilience of Moma nature is all too apparent On the farm on which I grew to adulthood. When I left to defend this country from aggressors big and small, it was a working farm, growing wheat, veggies, cows, chickens and pigs. Now it is a forest joining all the forests growing on what used to be neighboring farms. A vast wilderness....so to speak.

[flowermonkey]

I have seen several documentries which have shown genetic mutations in the those around Cernobyl. The incidece of thyroid cancer is extreamly high especialy in school aged children with high proportions of thyroid gland removal. The state conducts large scale screening programs each year.
Also the incidence of genetic abnormalitis in the tertiary generation is increased. The types of abnormalities are such that the images I saw were very disturbing and remain indelibly in my memories.
I think it has been careful control on the media and manipulation of statistics which has protected the west and maybe parts of the former USSR from the full legacy of Cernobyl.
Those who died by the inital meltdown of the ractor is recorded as very low. It neglets to include those of the firemen and troops who were involved in trying to dowse the fires. They had very high casualty rates due to the infirior protective clothing and their proximity to the core and fuel rods. I one of the films taken at the time, a clean up worker is sceen shovelling debris from the roof tho the ground below at one point he kicks part of a fuel rod over the edge with his boot. The respirator and lead apron gave very little protection due to the extreamly high radiation. Some of the film taken from the roof and from the helicopters over flying is streaked and damaged again by the radiation.
As the majority did not die on site but rather in the following days at hospitals away from area many of the deaths were not recorded as Cernobyl.
The mass evacuation of surrounding areas enevitably saved many thousands of people lives and the deserted area now stands frozen in time. People have moved into to outlying areas and are eating and drinking from crops which are highly contaminated but again the monitoring of these people for ilnesses and deaths posibly due to the effects of Cernobyl.

Even now background radiation in the exclusion zone remains very high and increases after rain due to the cracks in the concrete sarcoughigus(?). It has been identified that this shell which consists of thousands of tons of concrete needs extensive patching. The appetite to do this is very low due to many reasons both economic and from the increased education of those who would be tasked with the job.

There have some very good documentries in the decades since the Cernobyl meltdown available in the UK.

Sorry about spelling and grammar. I am dyslexic and its also late at night which compounds everything.

[jerryfmcompushaft]

Yo Flower-
i see nothing wrong with your grammer and your spelling is far better than mine (thank heaven for spellcheckers). There is no doubt that intense radiation is "not healthy". The secret of using nuclear energy is not to ignore the dangers of uncontrolled radiation, but to do everything possible to control that radiation. We are learning every day how to do that more effectively. Case in point - the number of nuclear submarines currently in service with few, or no, negative experiences. The other side of the coin is to fear the negative results of uncontrolled rediation to the extent that we do not make good use of a very efficient source of energy.