Meeting: 'Experts Convene to Examine Impacts of Fukushima on the Ocean'

Japan's "triple disaster," as it has become known, began on March 11, 2011, with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake—the fourth largest ever recorded. Following the quake, a 40 to 50-foot tsunami inundated the northeast Japanese coast and resulted in an estimated 20,000 missing or dead. The massive wave also caused catastrophic damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The release of radioactivity from Fukushima—both as atmospheric fallout and direct discharges to the ocean—represent the largest accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history. More than two years after the disaster, some Japanese coastal fisheries remain closed. Questions and concerns over continued radioactive water leaks from the plant remain as well.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will convene international experts at a public colloquium to explore the impact of Fukushima on the ocean and human health. The panel will be held on May 9, 2013, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. EDT and simulcast on the Web (http://www.whoi.edu/fukushima). Online viewers are encouraged to participate and send questions for the panel discussion via Twitter. The event hashtag is #WHOIfukushima. Questions during the discussion can also be sent via email to cmer@whoi.edu.

Presentations and a panel discussion will examine natural and human sources of radiation in the ocean, what was released from Fukushima, impacts on marine ecosystems and human health, public policy implications, and how information is communicated to the public.

"The goal is not to alarm or assign blame, but to talk about lessons learned from this tragic event," said WHOI senior scientist and marine chemist Ken Buesseler, who led the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the Fukushima nuclear power plant in June 2011.

Following the short keynote presentations, Heather Goldstone, host of Living Lab on WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station, will moderate a panel discussion from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EDT.

The program will include presentations by:

• Mitsuo Uematsu, University of Tokyo

  "The Fukushima Disaster: An Overview"

• Ken Buesseler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

  "Radioisotopes in the Ocean"

• Jota Kanda, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology

  "Radioisotopes in Marine Life"

• Hiroyuki Matsuda, Yokohama National University

  "Seafood Safety and Public Policy"

• James Seward, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  "Impacts of Radioactivity on Human Health"

• Dennis Normile, Science Magazine

  "The Role of the Media in Disasters"

• Jian Lin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

  "Tsunamis and nuclear power in the U.S."

The program is part of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Morss Colloquia series, established thanks to a generous gift by Elisabeth W. and Henry A. Morss, Jr.

Additional sponsors for this program include the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Center for Risk Management and Safety Sciences at YNU, Oceanographic Observation Center at TUMST, Center for International Collaboration at AORI, International Union of Radioecology, and Center for Marine and Environmental Radioactivity at WHOI.

Provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution