Valerie Hawthorn

MA Art and Environment

July 2014

An investigation of the Tsunami at Fukushima, Japan in 2011 and the impact of radiation on the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii and the West

coast of North America.

Falmouth University

5,619 words

Introduction

The accumulation of marine debris and the threat of climate change have

underpinned my main area of study for my MA in Art & the Environment.

Although both could be conceived as different issues; ‘they are imminent; they

threaten people on islands and coasts quite directly; they require not only

massive governmental action from international and national bodies but

individual actions – both require us to change ourselves and our society’ 1

During this thesis, I investigate, as practicing artists - without the commitment

and support of governments - if it is possible to make a significant change.

The dominant research for this thesis is from participant observation. Two

interviews were also conducted.

In Chapter 1, I examine the tsunami that affected four reactors at the

nuclear power plant in Daiichi, Fukushima, Japan. An investigation then takes

place to determine how the ensuing debris further exacerbates the situation of

the build up of marine debris on Kahuku Beach in Oahu, Hawaii. Chapter 2

documents the purpose of my trip to Oahu, Hawaii and the information I

collated during an attempt to visit Kahuku Beach. It includes an interview with

Suzanne Frazer of the supporting group B.E.A.C.H. in Honolulu, who are

trying to highlight and resolve this problem. In Chapter 3, I discuss artists and

filmmakers who have inspired my work and give case studies of artists’ work

directly related to my own practice. In Chapter 4, I address the issue; do we

really think artists can make a difference? Chapter 5 questions if we can make

http://climateoceansaction.com/twin-concerns/why-a-marine-debris-and-climate-change-1

blog/

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a change? Finally, in my conclusion, I examine my findings, what have I

learned since my visit to Kahuku Beach, Oahu, Hawaii.

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Chapter 1

The Fukushima, Daiichi, nuclear disaster that is changing the

environment for Hawaii and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere

‘While far away they pour their fumes

into the clear blue sky

not knowing and never caring

why the world is beginning to die.

So land of our forebears -

despite how much we cared for you -

the time will soon be when

we must bid you adieu.’

An excerpt from ‘Our People on the Reef’ by Jane Resture 2

The impact of rising sea levels, are highlighted in the poem ‘Our People on

the Reef’, by Jane Resture. She comments on the changing shoreline and

how areas previously visited, are now unreachable or inadvisable to visit due

Resture, J. www.ecology.info/our-people.htm2

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to rising sea levels. My study is of an area of shoreline in Oahu that is also

now inadvisable to visit due to contaminated seawater and marine debris that

has travelled from the stricken and now disabled, Fukushima nuclear plant in

Japan.

On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake registering 9.0, struck just

off the coast of Japan. One hour later, a tsunami hit the northeast coast; this

in turn, triggered a catastrophic meltdown in three of six reactors at the

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The meltdown caused the release of

huge amounts of hydrogen and radiation into the atmosphere. The levels of

radiation released are considered to be many times greater than that of

Chernobyl. The exact amount of radiation released is still unknown but

Japan’s now defunct NISA (Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency), ‘originally hid

important radiation data from the general public, hoping to avoid mass panic’ 3

The government were at the time, in denial of the extent of the catastrophe

and are, three years later, still playing down the implications. Continuously,

since March 2011, radioactive water leaks hundreds of tons of contaminated

water into the Pacific Ocean, contaminating fish including Blue Fin Tuna,

which has appeared in the West coast of America with abnormally high

radiation levels.

It could be argued that there was an element of overreaction to the

results of the catastrophe and that nuclear power can continue to be used as

a main source of power in Japan and the rest of the world, but interestingly,

Published: May 6th, 2014 at 10:12 pm ET 3

By ENENews. www.enenews.com

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Naoto Kan, the prime minister of Japan in March 2011, is now a leading

opponent of nuclear power - he publicly changed his mind about nuclear

energy whilst still in office. He states, ‘It’s impossible to totally prevent any

kind of accident or disaster happening at the nuclear power plants. And so,

the one way to prevent this from happening, to prevent the risk of having to

evacuate such huge amounts of people, 50 million people, and for the

purpose, for the benefit of the lives of our people, and even the economy of

Japan, I came to change the position, that the only way to do this was to

totally get rid of the nuclear power plants." At the moment Japan’s 48 4

commercial reactors, are all offline.

It is difficult to imagine how this catastrophic event three years ago

could have had such a grave impact on a shoreline 3000 miles away. What is

also hard to accept is the reluctance of governments to acknowledge the

problem and call for a change in the planning of the build of future nuclear

power stations. There are other factors, which have further impacted on this

problem. The vast amount of plastic and rubbish that does not biodegrade but

rather floats in the currents in the ocean for 100’s of years means a build up of

ocean ‘dumping grounds’. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North

Pacific, which is also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a vast area of

marine litter located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N and

estimated to be the size of Texas. The tsunami debris originating in Japan has

been circulating this gyre , travelling across the north of the Pacific, to Alaska 5

www.democracynow.org/2014/3/11/ex_japanese_pm_on_how_fukushima4

A gyre in oceanography is any large system of rotating ocean currents, http://5

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_current

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and the West Coast of America and back around towards the North West

coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The gyre spins endlessly and debris from the tsunami

has joined the rubbish vortex and is travelling across the Pacific on course for

Hawaii. How much of this tsunami debris is still radioactive is unknown. I am

interested in the effects of the tsunami debris, and more importantly, if it does

carry radioactive particles across the ocean.

According to Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for Hawaii's Department of

Health, debris washing up on Hawaii's beaches and shorelines from the

Japanese tsunami has continued to show no elevated levels of radiation. Yet, 6

without any published readings to go by, the general public, have no way of

knowing. There is a great deal of governmental pressure to stop the general

public, worrying and to encourage the message that there is no threat. Yet, in

contrast, there are reports from Alaska, of dead walruses, seal, sea lions and

whales washed up, suffering from baldness and skin sores. Worryingly,

‘Marine transported Fukushima radionuclides… may represent a new stressor

to ecosystem’. The United States government, have raised the ‘acceptable

levels’ of certain toxic substances in the food being shipped in from Japan and

what had previously been considered contaminated is now considered

healthy. But readings from food and contaminated water spike in accordance

with leaks from the plant. Daily, 100 tons of contaminated water seeps from

the Fukushima plant into the Pacific.

Okubo, J Department of Health, Hawaii, Honolulu Civil Beat 20146

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An Australian physician, Dr. Helen Caldicott, has been one of the most

passionate and vocal advocates of the nuclear environmental crises for the

past twenty years. She spoke recently at a Montreal press conference about

the dangers of atomic war and discussed a wide range of nuclear-related

issues, which, she says are having profound effects on Europe, the U.S. and

Japan. Citing a report entitled, "Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe

for People and the Environment," the Australian-born doctor said data

analyzed in the years since the disaster have produced startling information

about the ongoing damage to the earth and the environment being caused by

such nuclear accidents.

Whilst Japanese officials are trying to put a positive spin on the

recovery effort of the Fukushima disaster, Caldicott says Fukushima is far

worse than what is being discussed publicly. Japan's disaster is, she said, ‘by

orders of magnitude, many times worse than Chernobyl. Never in my life did I

think that six nuclear reactors would be at risk,’ she continues; ‘I knew the

three GE (General Electric) designers who helped design these Mach

1...reactors. They resigned because they knew they were dangerous.’ The 7

most important threat is that 1,533 spent fuel rods that are housed in the

damaged building of reactor 4, are currently being removed in order to be

rehoused in an undamaged building. This is an extremely delicate and

dangerous operation that will take over a year to complete. In addition to the

fuel rods, the riverbed that flows from the mountains, under the reactors to the

sea, are bathing the melted reactors and depositing 300 to 400 tons of highly

http://www.naturalnews.com/032411_Fukushima_Chernobyl.html7

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radioactive water into the sea. Dr. Caldicott also goes on to say that if there is

an explosion at reactor 4 at the stricken plant because of this operation, it

would so significant that she would consider evacuating her family from

Boston, in North America.

If a fission reaction occurred at reactor 4, it would release ten times

more cesium 137 than Chernobyl, or the equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima’s

bombs. Most of the fall out will occur in the Northern Hemisphere, across

North America and onto Europe, of which 40% is still contaminated from

Chernobyl.

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Chapter 2

The purpose of my trip to Hawaii

My visit to Hawaii in January 2014, enabled me to explore the artistic and

cultural achievements of the Islands at a time when they are experiencing

one of the most environmental and ecological threats ever faced. The news

of the approaching contaminated detritus from the tsunami in Japan and

the speculation that Hawaii could be uninhabitable by the end of 2015,

encouraged me to fund the trip myself. The debris has already begun to

arrive and over the next few years, it is apparent the islands will see an

unprecedented amount wash up on its shores. ‘We have a rough estimate

of 5 to 20 million tons of debris coming from Japan,’ University of Hawaii

researcher Jan Hafner Large items are being discovered close to the 8

islands, a 20-by-6-foot skiff, has made its way to Hawaii. (Fig Xx) After

cleaning the aquatic species from its hull, the crew from the boat that

discovered it, took it to Honolulu Harbour the morning of October 5 2013. 9

Before my visit to Hawaii I studied the effect of marine debris on the

North shores of Cornwall and Devon. As well as cleaning the beaches, I

worked with structures created from and positioned at the source of the

found debris. These structures are socially interactive, engaging people as

they add to them and stimulating an awareness of the problem of land and

marine rubbish. I had planned to continue this practise and create similar

Hafner, J. University of Hawaii8

Dianna Parker, Communications Specialist, NOAA Marine Debris Program9

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structures on Kahuku Beach but was unable to visit the beach due to

advice that the beach was now contaminated with radiation. Over the next

few years, the tsunami debris is predicted to have to have a huge impact

on Hawaii. There are many environmentalists and artists in the area who

are highlighting this problem.

Whilst in Hawaii, I interviewed B.E.A.C.H. co-founder Suzanne

Frazer, who produced ‘Plastic Tide’ a short film about the problem of

marine debris on the Islands and specifically at Kahuku beach. The film

was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Brita Filter For

Good Film Project winner, January 2011. Whist speaking to Suzanne I 10

was struck by how concerned she was about the effects of the

contaminated debris that is being washed up at Kahuku beach. ‘People are

out there in the rain, playing sports, getting wet, thinking things are normal

and they’re not.’ She explained how there was little or no help from the

government to use Geiger counters to measure and monitor the radiation,

‘they have the necessary radiation equipment but refuse to use it.’ This,

she believes, enables the government to tell the media that there are no

abnormal readings, as ‘If they don’t look for them, they won’t find them’.

There are spikes in the levels of radiation and whilst the Government

maintain the levels are within normal range, there is no ‘normal’ range. In

the US, The Physicians for Social Responsibility are adamant that ‘There is

no safe level of exposure to radiation, it is the same as tobacco smoke.’

Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii (B.E.A.C.H.) is an all-volunteer, non-10

profit organization that brings awareness and solutions to the problem of marine debris on Hawaii's beaches through environmental education and campaigns

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Interestingly, I discovered that acceptable levels have been raised twice in

Hawaii, since Fukushima, in order to appear the levels are still safe. But it

just takes one radioactive nuclei, a tiny little atom of radioactive material to

get into inside of the body to stimulate Leukaemia or Cancer.

Suzanne also goes on to explain that whilst the tsunami was a

catastrophic event that could not be prevented, every single person could

do something about marine pollution, for example, the shrimp plates that

are very popular to buy near to the entrance to Kahuku Beach, are served

on gyro foam with plastic forks. A choice of chopsticks or cardboard would

be preferable. For this reason, she explains, the people at B.E.A.C.H. carry

their own utensils wherever they go. The ultimate aim is to reduce waste

that can ultimately end up in the sea. Objects floating in the sea migrate to

the garbage patches or gyres. In addition to the Great Pacific Garbage

Patch in the North Pacific, the South Pacific has a patch roughly the same

size. Similarly there are two in the Atlantic and one halfway between Africa

and Australia.

The term "patch" suggests this floating detritus is packed together in an

oceanic version of a landfill. Instead, these "patches" are actually huge zones

where debris accumulates but floats free, circulating continuously. So it's

possible for sailing ships and other small boats to inadvertently sail into a

garbage patch region and encounter rubbish. That was the case in last

summer's Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles, California, to Honolulu,

Hawaii, when logs, telephone poles, and other wood debris from the 2011

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Japanese earthquake and tsunami drifted into the North Pacific patch halfway

between Hawaii and California. "There were a dozen or more reports about

collisions, and some of the boats were damaged by this floating wood," says

Nikolai Maximenko, an oceanographer at the International Pacific Research

Center at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, who has been studying the

earthquake debris' drift across the Pacific. Capt. Charles Moore of the 11

Algalita Marine Research Foundation, who first documented the Great Pacific

Garbage Patch, is currently monitoring and raising awareness of the

estimated 20million tons of garbage from Japan. (Fig Xx) It includes fridges,

cars and large sections of houses, which pose a threat to shipping traffic and

is now washing up on the shores of Hawaii, particularly Kahuku Beach.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140404-garbage-patch-indian-ocean-11

debris-malaysian-plane/

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Chapter 3

A study of Environmental Artists, working with the ocean, marine debris

and radioactivity.

There are many artists, photographers and filmmakers who tackle

environmental issues and who have a similar empathy and approach to their

work as I do. This cumulative group of artists have engaged and inspired me.

The following pages are a synopsis of some of those artists who have

influenced me. Their work is compelling; they produce breath-taking artworks

that are thought provoking and have a long lasting effect on their audience. I

have documented my thoughts and criticisms of some of their most relevant

work.

Pam Longobardi is an environmental artist working on conservation

projects in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, now the Papahanaumokuakea

Marine National Monument. Pam has also been working for NOAA 12 13

towards beach cleanups efforts in the main Hawaiian Islands and on Midway

Atoll with production of interpretive art projects. Pam started a project entitled’

The Drifters Project. I can identify with the audience participation in these 14

projects; they have a similar intention to the structures I was involved with in

Devon. Their intention is to attract more sections of the local communities to

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is the single largest conservation 12

area in the US

www.noaa.gov13

http://www2.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwpam/statements/driftersstate.html14

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participate in beach clean up efforts and at the same time serve as focal

points to educate the public about the impacts of marine pollution. (Fig Xx)

The sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor has produced many haunting

underwater sculptures but the most evocative of all is ‘The Silent Evolution

(2009-10). In MUSA Collection, Cancun/Isla Mujeres, Mexico, there are 400

life-size figures standing on the bed of the ocean at a depth of 8m. The

sculptures are made from cement, sand, micro silica, fiberglass and live coral.

The most engaging aspect of the work is the acceptance and encouragement

of the sculptures to interact with the underwater surroundings and allow the

live coral and fish to take over the installations. I am interested in this work

because these are figures that are interacting with the environment and are

comfortable within it. For me, the most evocative pieces are the individual

silent figures contemplating their surroundings rather than the pieces that are

accompanied with an object (for example a desk or sofa).

Anthony Gormley’s passive figures have a similar presence. Another

Place, erected at Crosby Beach, England, consists of 100 cast-iron figures

spread over a 3km stretch of the beach, staring out over the sea. The figures

are cast as life-size replicas of Gormley’s body, each becoming subtly

different with the erosion of time and addition of barnacles. As the sea rises

and falls with the tide, the figures are revealed and then submerged again. I

believe the most significant aspect of the figures is their silent, eerie presence

on the beach. When revealed at low tide, they stand, motionless and

observing the ocean with a calming, ghost like existence. They appear

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thoughtful and wistful as if seeking "another place" or contemplating

something that is approaching.

I have attempted to capture that mood within my own sculptures. As in

Gormley’s work, my figures are constructed to appear as if caught in a

moment of brief contemplation whilst staring out towards the sea. I have

created full size figures in different poses, but each one as if seeing and

mentally documenting the invisible radiation that is beginning to inhabit the

beach at Kahuku, Hawaii. My sculptures are made from recycled material,

sometimes tubes of cardboard and then encased in plastic bags found on the

beaches or from the rubbish bins of a supermarkets. The figures are ‘ghosts’.

They represent the people who formally visited the beach, before the radiation

from Fukushima created a risk. The sculptures are silent communicators,

carrying a sincere message about the delicate balance of safe and not safe

measurements of Cesium 137 and from the washed up debris and

contaminated seawater that has originated from the stricken nuclear power

station in Japan.

Japanese artist Masamichi Kagaya has gone further to highlight the

problem and produced images from contaminated radioactive objects

gathered within 10kms of the site of Fukushima Diachi plant. Through a

process called Autoradiography, he has produced prints of impressions of

contamination that is normally unseen to the naked eye. With only numbers

and figures of confusing data from the disaster, I agree with Kagaya in that the

images now enable the viewer to fully appreciate the effect the radiation has

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on the environment. "There is no place to hide in a picture, nothing is invisible

which shows the true reality of the situation," Seina Hareyama, a visitor to the

exhibition said. The autoradiographs, which Kagaya creates in collaboration

with his mentor, University of Tokyo Professor Satoshi Mori, create a visual

impact displaying shadowy images with a gradation of white to gray to black.

(Fig Xx) These images correspond directly to the levels of radiation. Kagaya

had to visit the stricken site in order to collect his objects, exposing himself to

ten times the normal dose of radiation. Professor Mori explains; ‘No matter

how low the levels of radiation, our cells are being damaged when they

absorb it. The weaker levels will be stopped at the skin but stronger levels will

enter and stay for a long time within the body. I want more people to be aware

that we are living in that kind of environment.’ I have analyzed Kayoga’s work,

I believe he is an artist who produces art as an activist, the purpose aiming to

create awareness of the problem whilst visualising the invisible and odourless

fall-out, which continues to linger from Fukushima. I think his work is the most

effective in creating awareness of the environmental problem.

James Acord also worked directly with radioactive materials. An

American artist, he became the only individual in the United States to receive

a Radioactive Materials License. He elected to have the number of the license

tattooed onto the back of his neck in celebration. (Figs Xx) He worked with

nuclear fuel rods containing depleted uranium acquired from a German

reactor. In his exhibition 'Atomic' he addressed the issue of the wall of

secrecy, which shielded the nuclear industry since the cold war. Acord had an

ambition to build a 'nuclear Stonehenge' at Hanford Nuclear Reservation,

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which was the original home of the atomic bomb. He went as far as to

relocated to Hanford, in order to have easier access to radioactive materials.

Acord created a series of reliquaries in which symbolic items from the nuclear

age were housed in boxes modelled after the medieval reliquaries used to

preserve sacred Christian objects. ‘I can’t help feeling that today’s nuclear

industry is not unlike the church of the 12th and 13th centuries. We have a

priesthood living in remote areas, interacting only with each other. Yet these

are the people who make decisions for you and me.’ Acord’s commitment to 15

create art from nuclear waste is compelling. For me, the most intriguing

aspect is his determination to succeed despite the severity of the materials.

Taryn Simon an American artist exhibited at the Tate in 2007 with a

chromogenic print, entitled ‘Nuclear Waste Encapsulation and Storage

Facility, Cherenkov Radiation Hanford Site, U.S. Department of Energy

Southeastern Washington State’. The image is of 1,936 stainless-steel

nuclear-waste capsules containing cesium and strontium. (Fig Xx) They

contain over 120 million curies of radioactivity - the most curies under one roof

in the United States. ‘The blue glow is created by the Cherenkov effect which

describes the electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle,

moves faster than light through a transparent medium. The temperatures of

the capsules are as high as 330 degrees Fahrenheit’. The capsules are 16

submerged in a pool of water, which acts as a shield against the radiation; if

standing next to an unshielded capsule, a human would receive a lethal dose

www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/oct/26/artsfeatures15

http://www.prixpictet.com/portfolios/growth-shortlist/taryn-simon16

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of radiation in less than 10 seconds. The most relevant aspect of the work is

that the resulting image is eerily beautiful; the blue colours are extremely

calming. The image is peaceful and inviting, yet the subject is silent and

deadly.

There are elements; I believe my work identifies with, in most of the

examples of work discussed in this chapter. I find meaning within the silent

sculptures of Taylor and Gormley; I have empathy and purpose with the

marine debris in a similar way to Longobardi. I feel the urge to enlighten and

inform in a similar way to Kagaya, Accord and Simon.

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Chapter 4

Can art be effective as a tool for communicating and bringing about a

change in environmental issues?

Is art effective as an activist’s tool? Although I do not consider myself an

activist, is it possible for my work to assist in bringing about a change in

government plans to continue building nuclear reactors in the UK? Images are

used commercially to attract attention and create an impact to drive an

audience. Advertising relies on imagery. I believe that artists can engage the

public and encourage a change in attitude to recycling, sustainability and

energy sources.

As artists, we need to engage the media if we want to spread the

message further. As an example, the show entitled Melting Ice, a Hot Topic, in

Oslo 2007, featured 42 contemporary artists from around the world. A

Guardian review reads, ‘Artists can successfully tackle this subject, making

their points succinctly and powerfully. For instance, Alfio Bonanno, the Italian

Arte Povera artist, has balanced the wooden frame of a boat on top of trees

outside the museum building. The point is simple: if snow and ice melt, sea

levels will rise and the boat will soon be in its natural place. I admire 17

messages that generate thought, I believe that is the call to action and I would

like to try to use that element in my own future projects.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog/2007/jun/19/canarthelpclimatechange17

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The ad agency, Young and Rubicam Paris, have created some of the

best advertisements that the public can identify and relate to. The images are

effective, to read copy describing the effects of marine pollution, hearing

about massive numbers of marine animals dying every year from ingesting

plastic seems abstract. But when we see an image like the plastic bags

mimicking jellyfish, floating in the ocean, we understand it so much more. (Fig

Xx) The message is more effective.

The images used to highlight marine pollution by the Surfrider

Foundation are very evocative. Their mission ‘is the protection and enjoyment

of oceans, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network.’

Most of their work has to do with discards, waste and pollution. They have a

style of messaging that is direct and effective and a call to action. (Fig Xx)

I was struck by the severity of the situation at Kahuku beach, Oahu,

Hawaii and would like to tackle this issue in my work, in the future. It was

frustrating to be detained from visiting the place that I had travelled so far to

see. There was no guarantee the information being conveyed to me was

accurate, perhaps it was speculation, perhaps an overreaction, but radiation

fallout is invisible and its effects are not immediate. How stupid we would feel

if we ignored the advice of the B.E.A.C.H. organisation, if three or four years

down the line one of us, fell victim to cancer.

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Chapter 5

Can we change government thinking?

Can we push for no more nuclear reactors? At the third anniversary of the

Fukushima disaster, tens of thousands of Japanese people protested against

the nuclear industry and the government’s plans to resume nuclear energy

production in the country. ‘I felt it's important that we continue to raise our

voice whenever possible. Today, there is no electricity flowing in Japan that is

made at nuclear plants. If we continue this zero nuclear status and if we make

efforts to promote renewable energy and invest in energy saving technology, I

think it's possible to live without nuclear,’ Yasuro Kawai, a 66-year-old

businessman from Chiba, near Tokyo.

The Japanese government have recently given the go ahead to start

the rehabilitation of residents close to the Fukushima plant. It has been three

years since the disaster and the evacuees had begun to push for

compensation. They have also had little support and help with emerging

health issues, an increased number of children have nodules on their lymph

nodes but the government has decided that the improved methods of

detecting the disease early are accountable for the increased number of

patients.

The government, by deciding to send people home, by repopulating

their villages (some as close as twelve miles from the stricken nuclear plant),

are declaring the areas safe, and therefore avoiding the compensation

requests. The areas still have hot spots that are in places such as children’s

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playground areas. The clean up of these areas have been basic and

ineffective. The ground areas have been cleaned but the snow from the fall

out, melting off the roofs have contaminated the ground again and collected in

drained areas that are now extreme hotspots. Residents have used paper

towels to wipe down roofs in an attempt to wipe off radioactive fallout, as they

have no other method of dealing with the problem.

It is too soon to judge whether Masamichi Kagaya’s work will have an

impact on the governments’ intentions to restart nuclear reactors in Japan.

Most importantly, he has received a great of media coverage and has

succeeded in highlighting the legacy of the disaster.

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Conclusion

Since my visit to Hawaii, I have concluded that it is not acceptable to assume

one organisation or one artist can be expected to make a significant change.

We should not be complacent and leave it up to one group or organisation like

B.E.A.C.H.; their aim is to bring awareness and solutions and gather support

from others. It is a collective effort that will make the difference.

I have learned a great deal from collaborating and researching as

much information as I can find, but how do I know what I’ve learnt is true?

How much is speculation or scaremongering? Without data it is impossible to

know. Perhaps only the passage of time will reveal the impact on the health of

the people in Japan and on the west coast of Alaska, Canada and America

and also the area surrounding Kahuku Beach in Hawaii. Screenings in Japan

are showing an increase number of cases of nodules growing on the glands of

children. But the government react by explaining the increased levels of

technology are able to detect those that would previously have been

‘invisible’. By sending people back to their contaminated villages close to

Fukushima, the government is making a point, they believe the dangers are

over and the radiation hotspots are acceptable.

I would like to continue this research and study. Does plastic hold

radiation? If so, what is the life of the radiation when transported across the

Pacific Ocean? Can I search for more data to support my research, is there

more data but is it hidden from the public in order to ensure there isn’t a panic.

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Would the government really hide information in order to maintain the

property market in these areas? For me, the meaningful experience of my visit

to the sensitive area of Kahuku Beach allowed me to fully appreciate the

impact and fragility of a nuclear catastrophe. Whilst my findings are

inconclusive, I have sufficient information to make a judgement about my

feelings regarding nuclear power. I agree with Naoto Kan, ‘ And so, the one

way to prevent this from happening, to prevent the risk of having to evacuate

such huge amounts of people, 50 million people, and for the purpose, for the

benefit of the lives of our people, and even the economy of Japan, I came to

change the position, that the only way to do this was to totally get rid of the

nuclear power plants." 18

As I made plans to leave Hawaii, I decided to return as soon as I could

and asked Suzanne Frazer, when it would be safe to go back on Kahuku

beach, she replied, ‘Not in our lifetime’.

www.democracynow.org/2014/3/11/ex_japanese_pm_on_how_fukushima18

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Miller, L. and Aldridge, S. Why Shrink Wrap a Cucumber? The Complete Guide to

Environmental Packaging, Lawrence King Publishing, 2012

Websites

www.capefarewell.com/about. David Buckland, Ice Texts, 2004-2005, 18/11/2012

www.climateoceansaction.com/twin-concerns, 17/01/13

www.coastalcare.org/2010/10/the-wrecking-season, 12/11/2012

www.flyintheface.com, 03/12/2012

www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog, 13/12/2012

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/conservation/exhibitions/capefarewell/, 16/12/2012

www.marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/faqs, 13/12/2012

www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Albatross-Plastic-Ingestion1997, 16/01/13

www.eco.umass.edu/people/faculty/sievert-paul-r/, 16/01/13

www.thewreckingseason.com/ 13/12/2012

www.underwatersculpture.com/pages/projects/mexico.htm, 13/12/2012

www.vimeo.com/25563376 16/12/2012

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www.weadartists.org/artist/steinmans, 16/12/2012

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