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<DIV><FONT size=2><SPAN class=maintitle><B><FONT size=3>Scientists to study
effects of nuclear crisis on ocean</FONT></B></SPAN>
<P align=justify><SPAN class=abody><B><BR><BR>Long-lived isotopes accrue in food
chain, sediments</B></SPAN><SPAN class=abody><B> <BR><BR>By Renee
Schoof</B></SPAN><SPAN class=abody> <BR><BR>McClatchy</SPAN><SPAN class=abody>
<BR><BR>WASHINGTON – A team of scientists will set out today from Hawaii on a
research expedition to study how radioactive contamination from the nuclear
power plant crisis in Japan has spread in the Pacific Ocean and what effects it
will have on marine life, the food chain and human health.<BR><BR>The scientists
say the effects of radioactive contamination in ocean waters, sediments and fish
is not well understood. The Japanese nuclear disaster is the worst release of
radioactive materials into an ocean.<BR><BR>The contaminated water in the ocean
is diluted to much lower levels as it travels from the plant to
waters</SPAN><SPAN class=abody> far offshore. Miles from shore, the elevated
levels of radiation aren’t a direct public health hazard, but there are still
many questions about the impact of long-lived isotopes that can accumulate in
the food chain and in sediments, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, which is leading the trip.<BR><BR>The chief scientist, Ken
Buesseler, said it’s critical to get observations of radioactive contaminants,
or radionuclides, in the water and in marine life.<BR><BR>“Together with
measurements of ocean currents, we can begin to understand the potential near-
and long-term severity of the releases and related public health issues,” he
said in a statement.<BR><BR>Nick Fisher of the State University of New York at
Stony Brook will lead the team of researchers looking at microscopic plants and
animals at the</SPAN><SPAN class=abody> base of the food chain, as well as
seaweed, fish and shellfish consumed by people, to determine how much
radioactive material they accumulate.<BR><BR>Cleaning up the ocean sediments and
other areas near shore would be “enormously expensive, and the effectiveness of
such actions is very uncertain at this time,” he said. There are some cleanup
methods that have been used for other pollutants in sediments, but they
generally haven’t been used for contamination with radioactive materials, he
said.<BR><BR>Japanese scientists have been conducting research since soon after
the March 11 tsunami and earthquake that damaged the plant. The 15-day
expedition on the research vessel Kaimikai- O-Kanoloa is the first major
international collaboration. Scientists from the U.S., Japan and Spain will be
on board, and they’ll work with scientists at labs in the U.S., Europe and
Japan.</SPAN></P></FONT></DIV><FONT size=2>
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