Post by account_disabled on Mar 10, 2024 4:16:39 GMT -5
Although Fukushima plans to transform itself into a renewable energy center, it has been approved to discharge contaminated water from the nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Ten years after an earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant , Japan announced plans to release more than a million tons of contaminated water into the sea. However , China, South Korea and the local fishing industry oppose this measure.
Workers used more than million metric tons of water to cool the three reactors that melted down in Despite using a filtration process to remove radioactive elements from the water, tritium, which is consi Phone Number List dered harmful to humans, is only very large doses and other potentially harmful elements still remain.
nuclear power plant
Work to release the water used to cool fuel at the nuclear power plant will begin in about two years.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant's operator, has kept water in huge tanks but is running out of space, and these tanks are expected to be full by , so the company is looking for another place for the water. .
About million tons of radioactive water, or enough to fill Olympic-size swimming pools, are currently stored in these tanks.
After treatment and dilution, radiation levels will be below established standards for drinking water. The United States stands behind Japan, saying the country is acting in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards. The International Atomic Energy Agency agrees. “Release to the ocean is similar to wastewater disposal at other plants around the world. It's not something new. There is no scandal here,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Japan argues that the release of nuclear power plant wastewater is safe as it is processed to remove almost all radioactive elements and will be greatly diluted.
But South Korea's foreign minister expressed "serious regret" over the decision. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, has questioned whether Japan is acting responsibly. "To safeguard international public interests and the health and safety of the Chinese people, China has expressed its serious concerns to the Japanese side through diplomatic channel," Lijian said.
For their part, environmental groups like Greenpeace have long expressed opposition to releasing water into the ocean; The NGO said Japan's plans to release the water show that the government "once again failed the people of Fukushima."
Whether consumers will fear the three-eyed fish is another matter. According to scientists, elements such as tritium are only harmful in large doses. While tritium is radioactive, it has a half-life of around years, meaning it will disappear from the environment over a period of decades rather than centuries.
The country's fishing industry has also objected, worried that consumers will refuse to buy products from the region. The industry was hit hard after the disaster, with many countries banning the import of seafood caught off Japan's northeast coast.
Fishing industry groups worry that fish will eat the tritium and then people will eat the fish. Even if the fish is technically safe to eat, public perception of irradiated fish could drive different culinary choices.
The risk of this happening is not zero, but the scientific consensus is that it does not pose a threat to human health. Scientists also point out that nuclear weapons tests carried out by the United States, the United Kingdom and France during the s, 's and 's have released much more radiation into the Pacific.
Ten years after an earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant , Japan announced plans to release more than a million tons of contaminated water into the sea. However , China, South Korea and the local fishing industry oppose this measure.
Workers used more than million metric tons of water to cool the three reactors that melted down in Despite using a filtration process to remove radioactive elements from the water, tritium, which is consi Phone Number List dered harmful to humans, is only very large doses and other potentially harmful elements still remain.
nuclear power plant
Work to release the water used to cool fuel at the nuclear power plant will begin in about two years.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant's operator, has kept water in huge tanks but is running out of space, and these tanks are expected to be full by , so the company is looking for another place for the water. .
About million tons of radioactive water, or enough to fill Olympic-size swimming pools, are currently stored in these tanks.
After treatment and dilution, radiation levels will be below established standards for drinking water. The United States stands behind Japan, saying the country is acting in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards. The International Atomic Energy Agency agrees. “Release to the ocean is similar to wastewater disposal at other plants around the world. It's not something new. There is no scandal here,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Japan argues that the release of nuclear power plant wastewater is safe as it is processed to remove almost all radioactive elements and will be greatly diluted.
But South Korea's foreign minister expressed "serious regret" over the decision. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, has questioned whether Japan is acting responsibly. "To safeguard international public interests and the health and safety of the Chinese people, China has expressed its serious concerns to the Japanese side through diplomatic channel," Lijian said.
For their part, environmental groups like Greenpeace have long expressed opposition to releasing water into the ocean; The NGO said Japan's plans to release the water show that the government "once again failed the people of Fukushima."
Whether consumers will fear the three-eyed fish is another matter. According to scientists, elements such as tritium are only harmful in large doses. While tritium is radioactive, it has a half-life of around years, meaning it will disappear from the environment over a period of decades rather than centuries.
The country's fishing industry has also objected, worried that consumers will refuse to buy products from the region. The industry was hit hard after the disaster, with many countries banning the import of seafood caught off Japan's northeast coast.
Fishing industry groups worry that fish will eat the tritium and then people will eat the fish. Even if the fish is technically safe to eat, public perception of irradiated fish could drive different culinary choices.
The risk of this happening is not zero, but the scientific consensus is that it does not pose a threat to human health. Scientists also point out that nuclear weapons tests carried out by the United States, the United Kingdom and France during the s, 's and 's have released much more radiation into the Pacific.