The Byron Nuclear Power Station shut down yesterday, January 30, 2012.
By the way 95 miles is nothing. The wind blows and the rain falls and all that radioactive hydrogen moves and falls down and is absorbed by the earth and ground water. Just because we can't see it happening doesn't mean it isn't happening.
Garbage is washing up on the Pacific Coast shoreline from Japan's Tsunami and subsequent Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Explosions.
Japanese tsunami debris washes up on U.S. West Coast nine months after disaster (and there's 100 MILLION more tons on its way)
By Michael Zennie
Last updated at 5:10 PM on 16th December 2011
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Large black floats are the first remnants of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami to begin washing up on the American coastline.
The debris traveled 4,500 miles on Pacific Ocean currents, pushed by wind and water, to reach the beaches of Neah Bay in far northwestern Washington state 280 days after the Japanese disaster.
Some 100 million tons of debris -- from wrecked fishing vessels to household furniture and even body parts -- is bearing down on the West Coast, raising environmental fears about the impact of massive amounts of wreckage clogging beaches.
Found: This large float made its way from Japan to Neah Bay, Washington, in about 280 days. Several have been found washed ashore in North America
Across the ocean: Currents and winds carried the floats across vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean
The debris is even more massive and moving much faster than originally predicted. Initial projections said 5 to 20 million tons of waste would take three years to reach American shores.
Now, scientists say, 100 million tons could be here in just one year.
One float, the size of a 55-gallon drum, was found in Washington two weeks ago, another was reportedly discovered in Vancouver, Canada.
More...Eighteen pieces of radioactive material seized from Iranian bound for Tehran at Moscow airport
What goes up, must come down: Stricken Russian probe will plummet to Earth next month - and no one knows where it will strike
The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck the eastern coast of Japan March 11 killed more than 15,000 people and washed homes, boats and human lives out to sea.
Anything that floated is now riding Pacific currents. According to computer predictions from the University of Hawaii, most of it is headed for an area between southern Alaska and southern California.
The researchers in Hawaii predicted most of the debris will reach the US mainland in three years.
First arrivals: Oceanographer Jim Ingraham says the Japanese float is the first of millions of tons of debris likely to reach the shore
Pieces of Japanese life: All manner of debris was swept out to sea in the tsunami March 11 and is now headed for US coastlines
However, oceanographers Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Jim Ingraham said some of the flotsam appears to be traveling much faster and could hit the West Coast in less than a year, the Peninsula Daily News reported.
Most debris travels at about 7 miles per day, the Seattle scientists said, but pieces can cover up to 20 miles in a day if they are big enough for the wind to push them.
The large black drums averaged about 16 miles per day to reach Neah Bay in Washington.
The University of Hawaii team also predicted the debris was about 5 to 20 million tons.
However Mr Ebbesmeyer and Ingraham say the errant Japanese flotsam could be five times that amount, about 100 million tons.
Sailors and the US Navy have spotted all manner of shards of Japanese life in the massive debris fields that are floating the currents.
In October, the crew of a Russian ship spotted televisions and refrigerators riding the current. Parts of homes, and a wrecked 20-foot fishing vessel have also been seen.
Salvaged: Crew members of a Russian training ship pulled in a fishing boat from Japan that was found 2,000 miles out to sea
Massive wreckage: The debris field in the Pacific Ocean has been spread out in an area even larger than Japan itself
Body parts are also expected to wash up on US shores, the Daily News reported.
The two researches said beachcombers who find any debris with identifying marks - such as Japanese writing - should contact authorities so it can be returned.
Families lost everything when their homes were washed away by the giant wall of water, Mr Ebbesmeyer said. Anything they can reclaim from the sea could help them recover from the disaster.
Click here to read more about Fukushima Debris
We'll see. In the meantime, last night we had a relatively mild earthquake along the border of Illinois and Wisconsin. This is unusual because it didn't occur along a fault line.And it is the last day of January. A month that has been mostly in the 40's, which is 20-40 degrees warmer than usual in January in this part of the country. Today is predicted that it will get up to near 60.
We've been enjoying the nice weather here but it is extremely unusual.
I wonder what this summer is going to be like and how this will effect how our crops grow.
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