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Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the pacific ocean may not be safe

civilbeat.org

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Re: Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the pacific ocean may not be safe

#2

Post by ddingus »

Two things I am concerned about:

The radioactive core is moving and will eventually be in contact with the water. It may already be. Does anyone know?[1]

If a dump of water used for cooling is a concern (and it is for me personally and I am open to learning it is not), is our situation not far more grave given eventual contact with the water and this source multiplied by however many world water cycles of contact will occur over the crazy long half life that hot core has?

[1] I saw some discussion on this early on and struggle to find it and or current info I trust today. Hoping others here know more.

Re: Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the pacific ocean may not be safe

#4

Post by janmalec »

Tritium is already present in the ocean naturally and we are not talking about Nuclear Waste, as the title suggests, but clean water. We also cannot compare the tritium with mercury, because tritium, even if released in the ocean, decays away. Mecury, on the other hand, stays forever. The concerns that the water will affect marine life might be well intended but will cause more harm than good. In the worst possible case, this water will do less harm than what the other industries are releasing routinely, including water treatment plants. If you want to put your energy into preventing dirt from getting into the ocean, look literally anywhere else. People are dying every day due to fossil fuel caused pollution, because we are irrationaly overestimating the dangers of nuclear power which are and have always been the safest and cleanest way to produce electricity. These deaths are SOLELY a consequence of fear-based decision making. I cannot envision a bright future if we don’t start evaluating the consequences of different scenarios with a scientific approach and stop taking decisions based on feelings.

Edit: spelling of tritium

Re: Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the pacific ocean may not be safe

#6

Post by jay_kyburz »

janmalec wrote: post #4

Tritium is already present in the ocean naturally and we are not talking about Nuclear Waste, as the title suggests, but clean water. We also cannot compare the tritium with mercury, because tritium, even if released in the ocean, decays away. Mecury, on the other hand, stays forever. The concerns that the water will affect marine life might be well intended but will cause more harm than good. In the worst possible c…

No post body was provided.

Re: Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the pacific ocean may not be safe

#8

Post by clarionbell »

ddingus wrote: post #2

Two things I am concerned about: The radioactive core is moving and will eventually be in contact with the water. It may already be. Does anyone know?[1] If a dump of water used for cooling is a concern (and it is for me personally and I am open to learning it is not), is our situation not far more grave given eventual contact with the water and this source multiplied by however many world water cycles of contact wil…

To answer your question. The risk is minimal to nonexistent.

Tritium, the thing ONE of the scientists is concerned about, is an isotope of hydrogen. It's barely radioactive, and it has half life of about 12 years. You may know it as the stuff that illuminates watch faces and sights. It's used in many other industrial applications and as far as radioactive elements goes

If you read the actual article you may see it's classic fear mongering:

The panel of multi-disciplinary scientists, hired by the intergovernmental Pacific Islands Forum, has not found conclusive evidence that the discharge would be entirely safe, and one marine biologist fears contamination could affect the food system.

TL;DR: They couldn't say something could happen, so they said that they can't conclude nothing will happen. Which is exactly what everybody knew before. One of them said that something COULD happen, but he doesn't know how.

Re: Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into the pacific ocean may not be safe

#10

Post by janmalec »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #6
janmalec wrote: post #4

Tritium is already present in the ocean naturally and we are not talking about Nuclear Waste, as the title suggests, but clean water. We also cannot compare the tritium with mercury, because tritium, even if released in the ocean, decays away. Mecury, on the other hand, stays forever. The concerns that the water will affect marine life might be well intended but will cause more harm than good. In the worst possible c…

Quoted post unavailable.

Yes, I am a researcher and a Ph.D. student in the field of nuclear reactor physics. I regularly operate and do experiments on a research nuclear reactor. My name is in my hn username and I have no problem defending my claims. I also own a popular TikTok account where I do science communication about nuclear reactors. My information about the water discharge comes from reports by IAEA, who is the authority on the matter.
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