Fukushima and the Nuclear Ocean

Imagine a continuous stream of radioactive fluid being poured into the Pacific Ocean. It is horrifying and unfathomable and you don't have to imagine it.

Japan turned the Pacific Ocean into a ginormous toilet for a streaming, mad-dash dump of toxic water from the post-tsunami, Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and there appears to be no end to this rush on radioactive dumping. Japanese citizens (and others) have reported on it, while the Japanese government has been trying very hard to cover it up. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been sued and the Japanese government has been embarrassed. Poor guys! TEPCO, finally, admitted that the meltdown is beyond its expertise and solicited outside assistance. Okay, we can give them credit for that. Meanwhile, TEPCO has forbidden the use of the word "meltdown" in company communications, doctors continue to be censored, Hillary Clinton's agreement, in 2011, with Japan that Japanese imports would not be tested for radiation levels may, still, be in place, and there is a press blackout.

TEPCO's willful and relentless contamination of the Pacific Ocean has transformed it. It is no longer the Pacific Ocean. It is the Nuclear Ocean. We should have deep concern over the fallout on foreign coasts and their resulting agricultural and dietary quagmires. Those of us who lack the knowledge to interpret the scientific calculations for what makes an unacceptable level of radiation for an ocean can be forgiven for our ignorance, seeing as authorities keep adjusting the numeracy for what is deemed acceptable. And TEPCO, in its desperation to compensate for its ineptitude, continues dumping radioactive water into the ocean. It has to go somewhere.

While sources on the ground do their best to report on it, we are distracted. What can be more important than nuclear fallout, leakage and contamination? We need the Pacific Ocean to be naturally pacific. Not paralyzed. It is not just a dumping ground for plastic and other, typical trash. It is a nuclear power plant's perpetual urinal. It is the victim of a nation's one, particular and persistent mistake. And, now, the cover-up has been increased in preparation for, of all things, the Olympics.