Never-Before-Seen Images Reveal How The Fukushima Exclusion Zone Was Swallowed By Nature
Polish photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski travelled to the site of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster last month to see the location with his own eyes. When he obtained permits to enter the roughly 20km (12.5 mile) Exclusion Zone, he was confronted with a scene similar to one from a post apocalyptic film. Podniesinski previously photographed the area around the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear energy plant disaster.
“It is not earthquakes or tsunami that are to blame for the Fukushima disaster at Daiichi nuclear power station, but humans,” writes Podniesinski on his website. He undertook the project so that he could draw his “own conclusions without being influenced by any media sensation, government propaganda, or nuclear lobbyists who are trying to play down the effects of the disaster, and pass on the information obtained to as wider a public as possible.”
Scroll down to see the haunting images from Fukushima Exclusion Zone yourself.
More info: podniesinski.pl (h/t: designyoutrust)
Abandoned vehicles are slowly swallowed up by nature on a stretch of road near the power plant
Some of the cars have entirely disappeared in the wild grass
Podniesinski shows a radiation reading of 6.7 uSv/h
A chained-up motorcycle is slowly absorbed into the field
These contaminated televisions were collected and piled up as part of the cleaning efforts
Cobwebs hang above the scattered products in this abandoned supermarket
Another photo from within a supermarket feels eerily similar to those from post-apocalyptic movies
This abandoned computer lab covered in animal droppings is from a village near the plant
A dining table with portable cookers ready to prepare food looks like it was left in haste
These go-karts have had their last race in an entertainment park located within the 12.5mile exclusion zone
Musical instruments including a piano litter the floor of this classroom
The earthquake which started the tsunami damaged buildings as well
These bicycles were left behind when residents fled
Classes were interrupted mid-lesson by the disaster
An empty arcade, now without patrons
This aerial photo taken by a drone shows one of the dump sites that contain thousands of bags of contaminated soil
Bags of radioactive soil are stacked one on top of the other to save space
Landowners have been told that these contaminated bags will be disposed of, but many people remain skeptical
Cows started to get white spots on their skin soon after the accident. One farmer believes this is due to the cows eating contaminated grass
“Nuclear energy is the energy of a bright future” reads the sign
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Anyone else thought of radioactive spiders upon seeing that cobweb-shrouded supermarket? Spidey's coming!
And was the photographer worried incase he got bitten...
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and by "bright future" they probably meant you will start glowing from the radiation
it was a bright future for everyone, sadly, things beyond anybody's control happened. im neither pro nor con for power plants, but there is a big difference in people's lives from those with power plants and from those with dont, and as one speaking from the latter. our electric bills are quite expensive as well as other basic commodities. so yes, there really is a bright future for countries and cities with power plants as opposed to those who dont, those who have to toil hard for basic commodities, but then again, there really is an exchange for easy living, as seen with the fukushima melt down... i just ask that you not be sarcastic about it. thanks
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I was somehow most impressed by the cow picture. All the photos of post-disaster evacuated sites I've seen contain no living creature. With this cow, I depicted the panocing farmer running away without even having time and means to save his animals. And the cow stays imprisoned there... Until it dies...
I LOVE HOW THE DUMP SITE IS RIGHT ON THE SHORE!! One big wave and woosh into the ocean!!
6,7 uSv/h is a very normal radiation level, bye the way. Toxic levels are from 200mSv/h (200,000 uSv/h) and lethal levels around 5Sv/h (5,000,000uSv/h).
That shocked me, actually. 6.7 uSV/h is hundreds of times less than the radiation we absorb from space on a daily basis. I'd really prefer it if he would have taken those readings every time he took a photo throughout the city. My guess is the above-ground radiation doesn't account for what was in the soil below his feet though. He should have used a probe instead.
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This man is biased beyond belief; another fearmongering environmentalist who doesn't understand nuclear energy, and doesn't try to.
Fukushima was really old powerhouse.. That's why this accident happened.. Another powerhouse near Tokio(younger one) hasn't even touched by disaster.
The thing about Nuclear energy is that it's a near perfect form of energy. We can now break down 90% of the waste left over from using Nuclear energy and undoubetly we will be able to break down all of it soon enough, however Nuclear energy can be extremely risky when in the hands of stupid people. This is an energy form that needs very strong regulations, and I'm a firm believer that certain countries or areas of countrys that are prone to natural disasters should NOT BE ALLOWED TO HARVEST NUCLEAR ENERGY! One of these countries is yes, Japan. I mean think about this, an extremely earth quake prone country allowing the construction of a Nuclear power plant is already a HUGE red flag. To make it worse, the plant is built on the east coast of Japan, a mere approximately 220km away from the m***********g Marianas Trench. Seems pretty stupid right? This event would have happened no matter what. Chernobyl will most likely never happen again. But this? If we don't wise up we're f****d.
Who is going to "disallow" sovereign nations to go nuclear? Who is going to enforce that?
Load More Replies...
I believe that this type of power plants are good. They produce cheap electricity and have proven to be pretty safe, but ounce in a while, accidents have and will continue to happen. Sometimes by human actions and sometimes by nature. Now, the tremendous costs which those accidents cause are the problem and until now there is nothing that tells me this will not happen again so, I don't want to leave near one of these things but actually I have to because I want cheap electricity and don't want to move. There. Any questions?
2 years ago there was another perosn - Polish girl (journalist) in Fukushima, Namie, I accidently found her blog over a year ago, she also has other interesting photos from Japan including Yakuza!!! her blog: www.gumkowska.wordpress.com
Nuclear energy is safe...as long as you don't build reactors in a country plagued by Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There's no accounting for stupidity.
That wasn't the problem. the issue was the protective walls that were around the plant were 10 feet shorter than they needed to be. They were just being greedy and didn't put proper safety measures in place to save money.
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Picture 13: author needs to do RESEARCH instead of just posting pics found on the internet. On the blackboard are messages of hope for rehabilitation of Fukushima by students. Please, check your content BEFORE you put it up on the net next time.
jut a friendly reminder that regular background radiationis around .06-.1 uSv/h
And that maximum level where there are no health dangers is ~ 6uSv/hr (http://radiationsurvival.blogspot.jp). Clickbait article.
Load More Replies...
My future is so bright I need shades! Nice work! Thanks for sharing!
In the United States they usually build nuclear power plants 12 miles or more outside any city because learning from Chernobyl and other nuclear disasters having thousands of people relocate as well as loss of all personal belongings / vehicles is a bit of an inconvenience. Even the San Onofre power plant in California which was 10 miles outside the nearest city is now decommissioned. Just a thought that for the future, countries should consider logistics when building a power plant.
I don't think the author has a very good idea of the reasons behind a lot of what he's documented.
0.67 mrem/h so when you normally get 600 mrem from the natural sources in a year. this is stupid. just enough for uneducated people to freak out about something they know nothing about.
This is why australia won't allow nuclear power plants in the country
Is it just me, or do the cars and tvs look strangly new, clean an shiney?
https://www.instagram.com/thechaoschronicles/ On the roads of fukushima ! Enjoy
https://www.instagram.com/thechaoschronicles/ on the roads of fukushima, go follow! ENJOY
At least, a lot of car photos are fake. It is a used car collection place existing before the accident. The topic of this photo has already ended.
The residents had to evacuate immediately, many of them had no time to bring their own things or their dear pets.
I personally do not want to live in a world with hills covered in useless wind turbines and farm fields covered in solar panels with a life expectancy of 20 years
If mankind doesn't stop what he is doing and rethink what Nuclear Energy can and will do in the future, the future is doomed. I shudder to think what the next Nuclear disaster will do.
Waiting for a video game based on the place and the event. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lights of Fukushima, I'd play it :D
Waiting for a video game based on this place. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lights of Fukushima, I'd play that :D
They scream that the end of the world is nigh from the streets of the over crowded consumption centers, from the waves of the electric audio/video generators, from the heights of the pulpit and from the bowels of the internet! Sit with these people comfort them and assure them the world was here billions of planetary solar rotations before their kind came along and will be here for a gazillion more....People, well people are going away! Fukushima a rogue comet or Nuclear war will see to that. Just like everything that ever swam, slithered, crawled, flew, hopped, squiggled or walked upon the face of the earth and is now extinct. The planet will shake us off like the virus we are and to the future inhabitants and the universe it will be as if we never were....
http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk/accidents.pdf 164 fatalities in the uk alone from wind power
Its interesting watching, my ego rage , as I go thru this , bless That fun , this "Nuke" thing is/was so dumb , bless
Its interesting watching, my ego rage , as I go thru this , bless That fun , this "Nuke" thing is/was so dumb , bless ?
https://www.facebook.com/Saveyourfuturegenerationsfromnucleardoomsday/
Why are the cars in the same "lanes" pointing in different directions? That is not a road, but they are are packed together not aiming the same way. What's up with that?
Something fishy about this whole photoset on the basis of just one image... The stacked televisions. Not a single one was a modern TV. Didn't Fukushima happen in 2012? I spent 3 years in the ultra space-conservative Japan and I find it highly unlikely that post-millennial Japanese are still using bulky box sets in the well established era of flat panel televisions, most of which come from Japan. I have doubts about when these photos come from. Maybe I'm wrong.
You'll notice that all of them are old CRT TV sets. I wonder if the rate of absorption in the materials in CRT TVs have anything to do with the reason why they were preferred or if that was just the way they sorted them?
Load More Replies...
I am very happy to read your articles it’s very useful for me, and I am completely satisfied with your website. All comments and articles are very useful and very good. Your blog is very attention-grabbing. I am loving all of the in. turn you are sharing with each one!…. Japani Oil
Did you mean after 5 years? Because Fukushima happened 5 years ago.
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It's spooky, though goes to show that mother nature is immensely powerful and not to be fooled with! Simular scenes at chernobyl
the picture that shows the radiation reading shows a bare hand. shouldnt he be in protective gear?
I think the AEC lied to us in the 50s and 60s. They insisted that nuclear energy was safe while we were soaking up enough rads to get cancer.
Upon closeer inspection... .something's screwy here. Some of those cars are facing the wrong direction. So I suspect that they're lying for sensationalism to say that this was a road that the super grass has destroyed. It was probably grass to begin with. I imagine that it might be half true, that these cars may have all come from being abandoned on a road and emergency services may have moved the lot of them into a paddock or something to get them off the road. The only other logical explanation is that some of those people were driving in reverse that day.
Those photos boggle my mind. How humans ignore or forget the effects of what is known and need to see and be reminded. Am awestruck by the scenes and the photographer for showing.
3.42 uSv/hr [Total:0.082 mSv/day] = Standard background radiation levels 5.7 uSv/hr [Total: 0.12 mSv/day] = No danger but highest possible safe level To be bad... 0.001 Sv/hr or 1 mSv/hr or 1,000 uSv/hr [Total: 24 mSv/day] = Long term danger and long term cancer risk [Source: http://radiationsurvival.blogspot.jp] 6.79 uSv/hr in the photo isn't that bad really... So, if anything he's shown that the "government readings" are reliable.
Thanks for sharing these photos. Very powerful. The classroom photo of the chalkboard, however, is not a lesson that's written on it. Rather it's people coming back and marking their hopes. Is it a high school? Can't read too clearly but if you send me a larger image I can help translate. reikoish (at) hotmail.com.
Does anybody know how one would get permits to access the Fukushima site?
and still they keep biulding nuclear powerplants......mad world, sad world
A very sad incident. Poor planing. I was once a fan of nuclear power and don't really worry about it. I live within about 6 or 7 miles from a plant. I just hope it was built very well as it is on a barrier island in a hurricane zone. It has survived several. I don't like wind mills as they kill girds by the hundreds. Some solar reflectors do also. Plain new teck panels should be the answer.
I'm against the nuclear power but the other nuclear plants were safe then Unfortunately Fukushima was the oldest and made by GE...
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And solar power is unattainable for most of us. Sad, very sad indeed.
Why are the cars in the first pic 'travelling' in haphazard directions?
scary.. this becomes a second tschernobyl.. also reminds me of the Manga "I am a hero"
scary how this becomes a second tschernobyl... also reminds me of the manga I am a Hero...
And now they want to put nuclear power stations all over South Africa. A******s
Nuclear power wasn't the problem, it was lax safety precautions.
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Why don't people Still talk about the dangers that STILL exist from this disaster? Others are a vague memory, also. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl. We are doomed to repeat our past, if this is forgotten!
So sad to think of the people attached to those pictures. Drivers of cars, bikes, motorcycles...Students and teachers, musicians, techies and computer nerds. All regular people whose lives were turned upside down.
They must be monitoring the wildlife that lives in, travels to and from, and passes thru this area. Any reading on all that? What are the health results due to this transcient activity?
They had to evacuate immediately. No time for packing.
Load More Replies...
We need solar and wind power as well as geothermal. Isn't that abundantly clear. Is this the world you want for your children?
They cost more energy than they output right now. Alternative forms of energy aren't viable at the moment. And it was stupid construction, not nuclear power that was the cause.
Load More Replies... Anyone else thought of radioactive spiders upon seeing that cobweb-shrouded supermarket? Spidey's coming!
And was the photographer worried incase he got bitten...
Load More Replies... and by "bright future" they probably meant you will start glowing from the radiation
it was a bright future for everyone, sadly, things beyond anybody's control happened. im neither pro nor con for power plants, but there is a big difference in people's lives from those with power plants and from those with dont, and as one speaking from the latter. our electric bills are quite expensive as well as other basic commodities. so yes, there really is a bright future for countries and cities with power plants as opposed to those who dont, those who have to toil hard for basic commodities, but then again, there really is an exchange for easy living, as seen with the fukushima melt down... i just ask that you not be sarcastic about it. thanks
Load More Replies... I was somehow most impressed by the cow picture. All the photos of post-disaster evacuated sites I've seen contain no living creature. With this cow, I depicted the panocing farmer running away without even having time and means to save his animals. And the cow stays imprisoned there... Until it dies...
I LOVE HOW THE DUMP SITE IS RIGHT ON THE SHORE!! One big wave and woosh into the ocean!!
6,7 uSv/h is a very normal radiation level, bye the way. Toxic levels are from 200mSv/h (200,000 uSv/h) and lethal levels around 5Sv/h (5,000,000uSv/h).
That shocked me, actually. 6.7 uSV/h is hundreds of times less than the radiation we absorb from space on a daily basis. I'd really prefer it if he would have taken those readings every time he took a photo throughout the city. My guess is the above-ground radiation doesn't account for what was in the soil below his feet though. He should have used a probe instead.
Load More Replies... This man is biased beyond belief; another fearmongering environmentalist who doesn't understand nuclear energy, and doesn't try to.
Fukushima was really old powerhouse.. That's why this accident happened.. Another powerhouse near Tokio(younger one) hasn't even touched by disaster.
The thing about Nuclear energy is that it's a near perfect form of energy. We can now break down 90% of the waste left over from using Nuclear energy and undoubetly we will be able to break down all of it soon enough, however Nuclear energy can be extremely risky when in the hands of stupid people. This is an energy form that needs very strong regulations, and I'm a firm believer that certain countries or areas of countrys that are prone to natural disasters should NOT BE ALLOWED TO HARVEST NUCLEAR ENERGY! One of these countries is yes, Japan. I mean think about this, an extremely earth quake prone country allowing the construction of a Nuclear power plant is already a HUGE red flag. To make it worse, the plant is built on the east coast of Japan, a mere approximately 220km away from the m***********g Marianas Trench. Seems pretty stupid right? This event would have happened no matter what. Chernobyl will most likely never happen again. But this? If we don't wise up we're f****d.
Who is going to "disallow" sovereign nations to go nuclear? Who is going to enforce that?
Load More Replies... I believe that this type of power plants are good. They produce cheap electricity and have proven to be pretty safe, but ounce in a while, accidents have and will continue to happen. Sometimes by human actions and sometimes by nature. Now, the tremendous costs which those accidents cause are the problem and until now there is nothing that tells me this will not happen again so, I don't want to leave near one of these things but actually I have to because I want cheap electricity and don't want to move. There. Any questions?
2 years ago there was another perosn - Polish girl (journalist) in Fukushima, Namie, I accidently found her blog over a year ago, she also has other interesting photos from Japan including Yakuza!!! her blog: www.gumkowska.wordpress.com
Nuclear energy is safe...as long as you don't build reactors in a country plagued by Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There's no accounting for stupidity.
That wasn't the problem. the issue was the protective walls that were around the plant were 10 feet shorter than they needed to be. They were just being greedy and didn't put proper safety measures in place to save money.
Load More Replies... Picture 13: author needs to do RESEARCH instead of just posting pics found on the internet. On the blackboard are messages of hope for rehabilitation of Fukushima by students. Please, check your content BEFORE you put it up on the net next time.
jut a friendly reminder that regular background radiationis around .06-.1 uSv/h
And that maximum level where there are no health dangers is ~ 6uSv/hr (http://radiationsurvival.blogspot.jp). Clickbait article.
Load More Replies... My future is so bright I need shades! Nice work! Thanks for sharing!
In the United States they usually build nuclear power plants 12 miles or more outside any city because learning from Chernobyl and other nuclear disasters having thousands of people relocate as well as loss of all personal belongings / vehicles is a bit of an inconvenience. Even the San Onofre power plant in California which was 10 miles outside the nearest city is now decommissioned. Just a thought that for the future, countries should consider logistics when building a power plant.
I don't think the author has a very good idea of the reasons behind a lot of what he's documented.
0.67 mrem/h so when you normally get 600 mrem from the natural sources in a year. this is stupid. just enough for uneducated people to freak out about something they know nothing about.
This is why australia won't allow nuclear power plants in the country
Is it just me, or do the cars and tvs look strangly new, clean an shiney?
https://www.instagram.com/thechaoschronicles/ On the roads of fukushima ! Enjoy
https://www.instagram.com/thechaoschronicles/ on the roads of fukushima, go follow! ENJOY
At least, a lot of car photos are fake. It is a used car collection place existing before the accident. The topic of this photo has already ended.
The residents had to evacuate immediately, many of them had no time to bring their own things or their dear pets.
I personally do not want to live in a world with hills covered in useless wind turbines and farm fields covered in solar panels with a life expectancy of 20 years
If mankind doesn't stop what he is doing and rethink what Nuclear Energy can and will do in the future, the future is doomed. I shudder to think what the next Nuclear disaster will do.
Waiting for a video game based on the place and the event. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lights of Fukushima, I'd play it :D
Waiting for a video game based on this place. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lights of Fukushima, I'd play that :D
They scream that the end of the world is nigh from the streets of the over crowded consumption centers, from the waves of the electric audio/video generators, from the heights of the pulpit and from the bowels of the internet! Sit with these people comfort them and assure them the world was here billions of planetary solar rotations before their kind came along and will be here for a gazillion more....People, well people are going away! Fukushima a rogue comet or Nuclear war will see to that. Just like everything that ever swam, slithered, crawled, flew, hopped, squiggled or walked upon the face of the earth and is now extinct. The planet will shake us off like the virus we are and to the future inhabitants and the universe it will be as if we never were....
http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk/accidents.pdf 164 fatalities in the uk alone from wind power
Its interesting watching, my ego rage , as I go thru this , bless That fun , this "Nuke" thing is/was so dumb , bless
Its interesting watching, my ego rage , as I go thru this , bless That fun , this "Nuke" thing is/was so dumb , bless ?
https://www.facebook.com/Saveyourfuturegenerationsfromnucleardoomsday/
Why are the cars in the same "lanes" pointing in different directions? That is not a road, but they are are packed together not aiming the same way. What's up with that?
Something fishy about this whole photoset on the basis of just one image... The stacked televisions. Not a single one was a modern TV. Didn't Fukushima happen in 2012? I spent 3 years in the ultra space-conservative Japan and I find it highly unlikely that post-millennial Japanese are still using bulky box sets in the well established era of flat panel televisions, most of which come from Japan. I have doubts about when these photos come from. Maybe I'm wrong.
You'll notice that all of them are old CRT TV sets. I wonder if the rate of absorption in the materials in CRT TVs have anything to do with the reason why they were preferred or if that was just the way they sorted them?
Load More Replies... I am very happy to read your articles it’s very useful for me, and I am completely satisfied with your website. All comments and articles are very useful and very good. Your blog is very attention-grabbing. I am loving all of the in. turn you are sharing with each one!…. Japani Oil
Did you mean after 5 years? Because Fukushima happened 5 years ago.
Load More Replies... It's spooky, though goes to show that mother nature is immensely powerful and not to be fooled with! Simular scenes at chernobyl
the picture that shows the radiation reading shows a bare hand. shouldnt he be in protective gear?
I think the AEC lied to us in the 50s and 60s. They insisted that nuclear energy was safe while we were soaking up enough rads to get cancer.
Upon closeer inspection... .something's screwy here. Some of those cars are facing the wrong direction. So I suspect that they're lying for sensationalism to say that this was a road that the super grass has destroyed. It was probably grass to begin with. I imagine that it might be half true, that these cars may have all come from being abandoned on a road and emergency services may have moved the lot of them into a paddock or something to get them off the road. The only other logical explanation is that some of those people were driving in reverse that day.
Those photos boggle my mind. How humans ignore or forget the effects of what is known and need to see and be reminded. Am awestruck by the scenes and the photographer for showing.
3.42 uSv/hr [Total:0.082 mSv/day] = Standard background radiation levels 5.7 uSv/hr [Total: 0.12 mSv/day] = No danger but highest possible safe level To be bad... 0.001 Sv/hr or 1 mSv/hr or 1,000 uSv/hr [Total: 24 mSv/day] = Long term danger and long term cancer risk [Source: http://radiationsurvival.blogspot.jp] 6.79 uSv/hr in the photo isn't that bad really... So, if anything he's shown that the "government readings" are reliable.
Thanks for sharing these photos. Very powerful. The classroom photo of the chalkboard, however, is not a lesson that's written on it. Rather it's people coming back and marking their hopes. Is it a high school? Can't read too clearly but if you send me a larger image I can help translate. reikoish (at) hotmail.com.
Does anybody know how one would get permits to access the Fukushima site?
and still they keep biulding nuclear powerplants......mad world, sad world
A very sad incident. Poor planing. I was once a fan of nuclear power and don't really worry about it. I live within about 6 or 7 miles from a plant. I just hope it was built very well as it is on a barrier island in a hurricane zone. It has survived several. I don't like wind mills as they kill girds by the hundreds. Some solar reflectors do also. Plain new teck panels should be the answer.
I'm against the nuclear power but the other nuclear plants were safe then Unfortunately Fukushima was the oldest and made by GE...
Load More Replies... And solar power is unattainable for most of us. Sad, very sad indeed.
Why are the cars in the first pic 'travelling' in haphazard directions?
scary.. this becomes a second tschernobyl.. also reminds me of the Manga "I am a hero"
scary how this becomes a second tschernobyl... also reminds me of the manga I am a Hero...
And now they want to put nuclear power stations all over South Africa. A******s
Nuclear power wasn't the problem, it was lax safety precautions.
Load More Replies... Why don't people Still talk about the dangers that STILL exist from this disaster? Others are a vague memory, also. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl. We are doomed to repeat our past, if this is forgotten!
So sad to think of the people attached to those pictures. Drivers of cars, bikes, motorcycles...Students and teachers, musicians, techies and computer nerds. All regular people whose lives were turned upside down.
They must be monitoring the wildlife that lives in, travels to and from, and passes thru this area. Any reading on all that? What are the health results due to this transcient activity?
They had to evacuate immediately. No time for packing.
Load More Replies... We need solar and wind power as well as geothermal. Isn't that abundantly clear. Is this the world you want for your children?
They cost more energy than they output right now. Alternative forms of energy aren't viable at the moment. And it was stupid construction, not nuclear power that was the cause.
Load More Replies...
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