Fukushima: Japan has decided to use swarms and wild boars to test the level of radioactivity of the forests around Fukushima and the impact on wildlife.
The French newspaper Le Parisien has announced that the Japanese authorities have decided to use monkeys and wild boars to check the levels of radioactivity near Fukushima, the area notorious for having been the protagonist of the nuclear emergency. To this end, primates and wild boars will be equipped with GPS, Geiger counters and dosimeters.
The vice president of the Japanese University, Takayuki Takahashi, explained that the use of these wild animals, or guinea pigs, will allow to draw an accurate and specific map of the levels of radioactivity in the heart of the forests that cover 71% of the prefecture of Fukushima and which are difficult to reach to carry out analyzes of this type.
Through this method, the scientists hope to learn about the level of exposure of the animals and the impact of radiation on the wildlife living near the plant. The data to be determined, in particular, is "the movement of radioactivity" in the forests, which are feared to be highly contaminated. As forests are the main sources of wood, water and food in Fukushima, there would be serious consequences if they were to be highly contaminated.
The question arises in the international community whether there are other means to study the phenomenon of contamination, in order to avoid the use of guinea pigs. The concern is not just about forests. The Fukushima power plant is in fact located on the seashore and analyzes on the seabed of the port in front of the reactors have found a "relatively high concentration" of radioactive materials.
For this reason, the Japanese authorities have authorized to cover the seabed with concrete and betonite, in order to prevent highly radioactive submarine sludge from rising, thus expanding nuclear contamination.
In any case, Japan has decided that wild boars and monkeys will be the guinea pigs with which to make measurements of the level of radioactivity.