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Is Fukushima Wastewater Release Safe? What the Science Says
Nature ^ | 22 June 2023 | Bianca Nogrady

Posted on 06/26/2023 12:15:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Radiation in the water will be diluted to almost-background levels, but some researchers are not sure this will be sufficient to mitigate the risks.

Despite concerns from several nations and international groups, Japan is pressing ahead with plans to release water contaminated by the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. Starting sometime this year and continuing for the next 30 years, Japan will slowly release treated water stored in tanks at the site into the ocean through a pipeline extending one kilometre from the coast. But just how safe is the water to the marine environment and humans across the Pacific region?

How is the water contaminated? The power station exploded after a devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami crippled the coastal plant, overheating the reactor cores. Since then, more than 1.3 million cubic metres of seawater have been sprayed onto the damaged cores to keep them from overheating, contaminating the water with 64 radioactive elements, known as radionuclides. Of greatest concern are those that could pose a threat to human health: carbon-14, iodine-131, caesium-137, strontium-90, cobalt-60 and hydrogen-3, also known as tritium.

Some of these radionuclides have a relatively short half-life and would already have decayed in the 12 years since the disaster. But others take longer to decay; carbon-14, for example, has a half-life of more than 5,000 years.

How are they treating the water?

The contaminated water has been collected, treated to reduce the radioactive content and stored in more than 1,000 stainless steel tanks at the site. The power-station operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), so far has used what it describes as an advanced liquid-processing system (ALPS) to treat the water. TEPCO says the water undergoes five processing stages of co-sedimentation, adsorption and physical filtration.

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fukushima; jaoan; nuclearwaste
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1 posted on 06/26/2023 12:15:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I’d rather eat DDT. Because I know that stuff really is harmless.


2 posted on 06/26/2023 12:18:21 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (It's not a government. It's a criminal enterprise. Fear it, but do not respect it.)
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To: nickcarraway

It’ll eventually make it to the West Coast.


3 posted on 06/26/2023 12:19:33 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: nickcarraway

Gojira!


4 posted on 06/26/2023 12:20:19 PM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: nickcarraway

This might get biblical.


5 posted on 06/26/2023 12:21:43 PM PDT by Manic_Episode (A government of the government, by the government, for the government)
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To: nickcarraway

Have they learned nothing from Godzilla?


6 posted on 06/26/2023 12:21:52 PM PDT by pfflier
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To: ClearCase_guy
I believe the released wastewater will be so diluted it will not matter one iota. There is likely radiation coming from the ocean floor that is in higher concentration.

And yes, Rachael Carson's "Silent Spring" has killed more people than has DDT. Malaria was almost eradicated because of DDT and her book stopped the effort cold and is why we are where we are today in the war against Malaria.

7 posted on 06/26/2023 12:22:43 PM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: 1Old Pro

“It’ll eventually make it to the West Coast.”

The CO2 you exhale will eventually make it to the East Coast.


8 posted on 06/26/2023 12:23:37 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: nickcarraway

How does this release of radioisotopes compare with atmospheric testing by the US and France in the Pacific?


9 posted on 06/26/2023 12:25:35 PM PDT by FarCenter
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To: vetvetdoug

And RFK Jr. destroyed a great weed killer.


10 posted on 06/26/2023 12:25:55 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

Shin Gojira...


11 posted on 06/26/2023 12:29:10 PM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
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To: nickcarraway
Dilution is the solution. Nothing wrong with dumping this water into the ocean.

Chicken Little is clucking. Reminds of the large pool of (non-irradiated) purified deionized water we had at our nuclear power test facility. The water was so clear and clean you could clearly see a dime 50 feet down on the bottom. When the facility was decommissioned, the EPA rules would not let us dump it outside the building. Rules said it would be considered a contaminant. The water was pumped into tank trucks and taken away by a waste disposal company.

12 posted on 06/26/2023 12:38:05 PM PDT by kickstart ("A gun is a tool. It is only as good or as bad as the man who uses it" . Alan Ladd in 'Shane' )
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To: nickcarraway

I do not know why everybody is so scared of radiation.
We are all surrounded of natural radiation, we are adapted to low level radiation to the degree that low level of radiation is probably beneficial to our lives.
I do not see any problem here!


13 posted on 06/26/2023 12:43:16 PM PDT by AZJeep
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To: AZJeep

Yes, we wouldn’t see without radiation, but radiation can also be harmful.


14 posted on 06/26/2023 12:48:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Use it to wash the floors of Congress and commission a study to find out.


15 posted on 06/26/2023 12:49:29 PM PDT by woodpusher
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To: nickcarraway

What the science says? Which science would that be? The real science or the phony state-sponsored science?


16 posted on 06/26/2023 12:49:50 PM PDT by Dahoser (I finally figured out what to call him: Fakephonyfraudident Biden.)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s been flooding the groundwater and flowing into the oceans for years - this is the puppet show to distract from that fact.


17 posted on 06/26/2023 2:23:40 PM PDT by ransomnote (IN GOD WE TRUST)
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To: nickcarraway

the pacific is estimated to contain 710 million cubic kilometers. 1.3 million cubic meters is a proverbial drop in the bucket.


18 posted on 06/26/2023 2:32:25 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: ClearCase_guy

I really don’t think this water release is going to be a major pollutant-the solution to pollution is dilution-and the oceans were created able to do that by the Intelligent Designer...

I’m more concerned about Monsanto’s GMO frankenplants getting into organic farm crops, and all the supposedly “safe” pesticides and herbicides being sprayed around crops ready for harvest-that stuff is NOT being diluted by an ocean before going into the groundwater...


19 posted on 06/26/2023 2:42:17 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: nickcarraway

Lol.. trust the science and experts. 14 years to flatten the curve.


20 posted on 06/26/2023 3:02:23 PM PDT by momincombatboots (BQEphesians 6... who you are really at war with. )
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