Water Under the Bridge

[Unkotare]

Japan begins releasing Fukushima wastewater into Pacific ocean"

"Monitors from the UN atomic watchdog, which has endorsed the plan, were due to be on site for the procedure, while Tepco workers were scheduled to take water samples later on Thursday.

The discharge, which is expected to take 30 to 40 years, has caused anger in neighboring countries and concern among fishers that it will destroy their industry as consumers steer clear of seafood caught in and around Fukushima."

Easily predicted reactions from China and Korea. Sort of reminds me of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when everyone "guaranteed" that no seafood would be safe from the gulf for a hundred years. Within months shrimp from the gulf was back on the menu.

 

[The Duke]

Japan begins releasing Fukushima wastewater into Pacific ocean"

"Monitors from the UN atomic watchdog, which has endorsed the plan, were due to be on site for the procedure, while Tepco workers were scheduled to take water samples later on Thursday.

The discharge, which is expected to take 30 to 40 years, has caused anger in neighboring countries and concern among fishers that it will destroy their industry as consumers steer clear of seafood caught in and around Fukushima."

Easily predicted reactions from China and Korea. Sort of reminds me of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when everyone "guaranteed" that no seafood would be safe from the gulf for a hundred years. Within months shrimp from the gulf was back on the menu.

The more it's spread out the less dangerous it is.

 

[Unkotare]

"The water will initially be released in modest quantities and with extra checks, Tepco said, with the first discharge, totalling 7,800 cubic metres, expected to last about 17 days. The utility will start the release “carefully and from a small amount”, an official in charge of the processed water said.
How to dispose of wastewater that has built up at the site on Japan’s north-east coast has proved a diplomatic headache for the government, despite support for its approach from the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The water became contaminated after it was used to cool three nuclear reactors that melted down after Fukushima Daiichi was struck by a powerful tsunami in March 2011. The waves knocked out the plants backup electricity supply and forced the evacuation of 160,000 people, in the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chornobyl."

 

[Unkotare]

"On-site technology is used to remove most harmful substances, but it is unable to filter out tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is considered to be relatively harmless because, according to Tepco, it emits very weak levels of radiation and does not accumulate or concentrate inside the human body."

 

[Unkotare]

"Ahead of Thursday’s release, Tepco said the first batch of discharged water would contain about 190 becquerels of tritium per litre – well below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre. The water will be released at a maximum rate of 500,000 litres (132,000 US gallons) a day.

Japanese officials say the water – which is being diluted with seawater before being pumped into the Pacific via an undersea tunnel – is safe. That view was backed by a recent IAEA safety review in which it said the release would have a “negligible” radiological effect on people and the environment.


But assurances over food safety have failed to convince China. Hours before the discharge was due to begin, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the move “extremely selfish”, adding that Beijing had lodged a formal complaint with Japan’s ambassador to China."

 

[Unkotare]

"South Korea, once an outspoken critic of the plans, has said that it accepts the science behind the discharge, but has stopped short of publicly supporting Japan’s approach amid concerns over food safety among the South Korean public.

Some experts have pointed out that nuclear power plants in other countries, including China, release diluted tritium into the sea for decades without incident.

“Nuclear power plants worldwide have routinely discharged water containing tritium for over 60 years without harm to people or the environment, most at higher levels than planned for Fukushima,” Tony Irwin, an honorary associate professor at the Australian National University, said."

 

[lennypartiv]

"On-site technology is used to remove most harmful substances, but it is unable to filter out tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is considered to be relatively harmless because, according to Tepco, it emits very weak levels of radiation and does not accumulate or concentrate inside the human body."

 

[lennypartiv]

"...Beijing had lodged a formal complaint with Japan’s ambassador to China."

Oh, the irony.

 

[luiza]

Water Under the Bridge​

Is this the same Bridge that Simon and Garfunkel perhaps prophetically wrote about ?

 

[JGalt]

Dammit! Beat to it again.

 

[braalian]

We all know that Japan + radioactive waste = Godzilla

 

[Dayton3]

People forget (or never knew) that 30 feet of seawater has the same radiation-shielding effect as one foot of solid concrete.

 

[braalian]

The experts who actually know about such things say there’s zero to negligible possible impact.

Including third party observers who have no horse in this race.

China is just stirring the pot.