Fukushima disaster 10th anniversary

On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake shut down power to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The backup generators failed. Reactor cores overheated, exploded and melted through. Airborne radiation hit the West Coast in three days, registering in rainwater, kelp and plants. Cesium monitors near Pinnacles showed significant levels. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory reported radiation equivalent to a 1-megaton atomic bomb here. The Kuroshio ocean current also transported massive radioactivity here.

Results: plummeting populations of plankton, sardines, anchovies, squid, sharks, and other species, starfish wasting disease, stressed algae producing domoic acid, chitin damage, a broken food chain. Starving and diseased whales, seals, sea lions, birds. Plummeting births and abandoned babies. Whales forced to hunt for food near shore entangle in fishing gear.

Hundreds of tons of radioactive water flow into the ocean daily from Fukushima. Fissioning

nuclear fuel in the ground constantly pollute the air. Japan plans to dump 1 million tons of stored contaminated water into the ocean despite protests from fishermen.

The nuclear industry and governments created this never-ending disaster. If the Ridgecrest earthquakes had hit Diablo Canyon, Monterey County, Central California, and the Pacific Ocean would have faced more catastrophe. Mourn and demand accountability.

—— Nina Beety, Monterey