Japan will soon begin releasing million gallons of Fukushima nuclear plant water into the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese government has decided to release treated radioactive water that has been accumulating at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. This despite opposition from fishermen and consumers in neighboring countries such as China and South Korea.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Tepco is expected to start discharging the mildly-radioactive water in , a major development following over seven years of discussions on how to discharge the water used to cool down melted fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government made the final decision after meeting with Hiroshi Kishi, head of the national federation of fisheries cooperatives, who continues his organization's unwavering opposition to the plan.
The government has said it cannot continue postponing a decision on the disposal issue, given that the storage capacity of water tanks at the Fukushima complex is expected to run out as early as next year. Suga said releasing the water is the most realistic option. Japan's Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry just released a basic policy for disposing of the stored treated water. The water has been treated using an advanced liquid processing system to remove all contaminants below environmental levels and stored in tanks on the complex premises.
However, the processing system cannot remove tritium, the least radioactive, and least harmful, of all radioactive elements. The total annual amount of tritium to be discharged "will be at a level below the operational target value for tritium discharge of the Fukushima Daiichi plant before the accident. The International Atomic Energy Agency approves the Japanese government's plan noting that releasing it into the ocean meets global standards of practice.
IAEA's Director General Rafael Grossi pointed out that this is a common way to release water at nuclear power plants, even when they are not in emergency situations.
I understand the fishermen being afraid. And trivial they are. The radiation dose from one quart of this water is equal to four bananas or a family-sized bag of potato chips. A ton of this water gives a dose of approximately 4 mSv, about the average annual background dose to everyone in America, and less than a single chest CT scan which is 7 mSv.
Critics, like Greenpeace, weighed in with the usual every-atom-is-dangerous nonsense and seems to think this water should be stored and treated forever. But few do. Scientists who do understand the problem and the science including yours truly, who has personally worked with U. Although not intuitive, this is a very good idea. Tritium is the mildly radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has two neutrons and one proton , with radioactivity so low that no environmental or human problems have ever come from it, even though it is a common radioactive element in the environment.
Tritium is formed naturally by atmospheric processes as well as in nuclear weapons testing and in nuclear power plants. Thats a concern? It will not be good, however, the speculation that says it will melt through the earth is not exactly what is expected. There are a number of scenarios, each depends on the type of reactor, whether or not it is in a containment system, how it is cooled, whether or not power outage plays a part and again that totally depends on the type of system.
A 'steam bubble' may or most likely is already forming inside the containment, that can escape from the bottom of the containment vessel as it's integrity degrades. That seems to be the scenario that Japan may be expecting. A 6 mile radius is cleared to keep human safe from exposure, that is all that is expected to become contaminated, but again I have to say this really does't have a lot of precedent, mainly because it is the first meltdown of this particular system.
I am going with the leak from the bottom and contamination theory, and I forsee not only displacement of a few thousand people who will never go back and get their things, but also water contamination.
Oh, and no more power output from this plant. Shiomi said that even if there was a meltdown, it wouldn't affect humans outside a six-mile kilometer radius. MSNBC NEWS So it's officiall: Meltdown possible at Japan nuclear plant, official says Emergencies declared at 5 reactors, leak detected at one; thousands evacuated An official with Japan's nuclear safety commission says that a meltdown at a nuclear power plant affected by the country's massive earthquake is possible.
Ryohei Shiomi said Saturday that officials were checking whether a meltdown had taken place at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which had lost cooling ability in the aftermath of Friday's powerful earthquake.
If the fuel rods melted or are melting, a breach could develop in the nuclear reactor vessel and the question then becomes one of how strong the containment structure around the vessel is and whether it has been undermined by the earthquake, experts said. I am very glad. Thanks for your insight. It appears that nothing at all is going to happen. What a sigh of relief for everybody.
The media loves to capitalise on discomfort. The reactors in Japan that are of concern are of the light water type, which means that a Chenobyl style meltdown is simply out of the question and any explosion is extremely unlikely. Three people were reportedly taken to hospital after high-level exposure. Long-term effects of the radiation are a matter of debate.
The World Health Organization WHO released a report in that said the disaster will not cause any observable increase in cancer rates in the region. Scientists both inside and outside Japan believe that aside from the region immediately around the plant, the risks of radiation remain relatively low. On 9 March , ahead of the year anniversary, a UN report said there had been "no adverse health effects" documented among Fukushima residents directly related to the radiation from the disaster.
Any future radiation-related health effects were "unlikely to be discernible", it said. But many believe the dangers are far greater, and residents remain wary. Though officials have lifted restrictions in many areas most people have not returned to their homes.
In , the Japanese government announced that one worker had died after exposure to radiation and agreed his family should be compensated. A number of people are however confirmed to have died in the evacuation, including dozens of hospital patients who had to be moved due to fears of radiation.
The Fukushima Disaster is classified as a level seven event by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the highest such event and only the second disaster to meet this classification after Chernobyl. Critics blamed the lack of preparedness for the event, as well as a muddled response from both the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Tepco and the government.
An independent investigation set up by Japan's parliament concluded that Fukushima was "a profoundly man-made disaster", blaming the energy company for failing to meet safety requirements or to plan for such an event. However, in a Japanese court cleared three former Tepco executives of negligence in what was the only criminal case to come out of the disaster. In , Japan's then prime minister Yoshihiko Noda said the state shared the blame for the disaster.
A court ruled in that the government bore partial responsibility and should pay compensation to evacuees. Ten years later, several towns in north-eastern Japan remain off limits. Authorities are working to clean up the area so residents can return.
Major challenges remain. Tens of thousands of workers will be needed over the next 30 to 40 years to safely remove nuclear waste, fuel rods and more than one million tons of radioactive water still kept at the site. But some residents have decided never to return because they fear radiation, have built new lives elsewhere or don't want to go back to where the disaster hit. Media reports in said the government could start to release the water - filtered to reduce radioactivity - into the Pacific Ocean as early as next year.
Some scientists believe the huge ocean would dilute the water and that it would pose a low risk to human and animal health.
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