22 August 2020 | New Scientist | 29Troubled waters
Photographer Laura Liverani
Agency Prospekt Photographers
THIS surfer is one of many hoping
to catch the waves at Kitaizumi
beach in Japan’s Fukushima
prefecture. The coastal spot was
once hailed as a surfer’s paradise
thanks to its high waves and sandy
shores. Yet it has been almost a
decade since it has been able to
enjoy that status.
In 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant – situated
around 25 kilometres from the
beach – was the site of the worst
nuclear accident since the
Chernobyl disaster in 1986, after it
was hit by a devastating tsunami.
Kitaizumi reopened to the public in
2019 after a huge decontamination
effort, and surfers are keen to
see people return to the beach.
Taken by photographer Laura
Liverani as part of a series called
Fukushima Surfers, the image
shows how the sport is making a
comeback in the area. Though the
building in the background is
the Haramachi coal power station,
not Fukushima Daiichi, the legacy
of the nuclear plant still lingers.
Due to a lack of space, Japan
plans to tip 1 million tonnes of
contaminated water stored from
the disaster – a combination of
recovered groundwater and
deliberately injected cooling
waters – into the Pacific Ocean
after it is treated. Managed
properly, this shouldn’t release
any harmful radioactive particles
that could pass into marine
sediment and fish or threaten
surfers’ safe return to the sea. ❚
Gege Li