On March 11 , 2011 , theFukushima Daiichinuclear power plant experienced a ruinous bankruptcy that resulted in the nuclear meltdown of 3 of the plant life ’s 6 nuclear reactor . The event was activate when a tsunami rack up the area , which was the wake of a order of magnitude 9.0 earthquake . The flora start spilling out large amounts of radioactive material the day after the event , which will leave durable scratch on the environment for years to occur .
Unlike the ill-famed 1986 Chernobyl disaster whereserious delaysresulted in significant gaps in impact information on both human beings and non - human species , scientists started collecting biologic information just a few months after the Fukushima cataclysm . investigator hoped to gather information on the long - term genic outcomes of diverge levels of radiation exposure and also to name strategy to valuate the overall biologic effects of ionizing radiation . Now , in a series of written document published in theJournal of Heredity , scientists are starting to reveal the damaging effect on several non - human organisms .
For one of the theme , researchers set out to appear atpopulation changesin birds , butterfly and various insect metal money and then compare this selective information with previous data obtain from the Chernobyl tragedy . While a limited number of studies have been conducted , it is evident that all of the animals investigated hurt reduced population sizes in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone . Similarly , birds , butterflies and cicada experience population declines in Fukushima as a result of radiation photo . However , other chemical group such as dragonflies and bee did not seem to be sham . what is more , they also observed morphological effects on some specie such as abnormal feather on b swallows .
The secondstudyfocused on the pale eatage blue butterfly which is the most common butterfly in Japan . They discovered that this species suffered a reduction in forewing size , growth retardation and gamey mortality and abnormality pace . However , their results also suggest that the Fukushima butterfly were evolve radiation resistor .
The finalstudylooked at the effects of da Gamma radiation sickness on healthy rice seedlings at a highly polluted field near the plant . In just three days , deoxyribonucleic acid sequence analysis unwrap various changes such as the activating on DNA fixing mechanisms . Furthermore , tenseness responses were triggered which result in the generalization of genes regard in mobile phone last .
The take home message from this workplace is thatearly and ongoing monitoringis critical to realize the long - condition impact of radiation exposure at sites of inadvertent release . “ detail analyses of inherited impacts to natural population could put up the data needed to predict recovery multiplication for wild community at Fukushima as well as any web site of next nuclear accidents , ” researcher Dr. Timothy Mousseau said in anews - waiver . “ There is an urgent want for greater investment in basic scientific inquiry of the tempestuous animals and plants of Fukushima . ”
