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Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

aljazeera.com

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Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#31

Post by fomine3 »

ipaddr wrote: post #16
freetime2 wrote: post #2

> Japan says all radioactive elements have been filtered out except tritium, which is hard to remove from water. The hydrogen isotope is also discharged – at higher levels – by operational nuclear power plants, including in China and France. > That water will contain about 190 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre, according to Tepco.…

10,000 is very high and this level will be lowered hopefully in time. In Ontario Canada: 20 Bq/L limit proposed by the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council (ODWAC) 190 is 10 times that limit. This isn't only about drinking water it's about eating seafood that has absorbed these chemicals (or eaten many fish who have absorbed them). I could understand the caution around seafood in that area for a period of time.

Tritium does not become concentrated, that's why it's hard to collect and many countries drop it to ocean.

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#32

Post by minebreaker »

lifthrasiir wrote: post #10
implements wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Umm, what's the controversy here? Fear of radiation, fear that the Japanese government / Fukushima’s owners can’t be trusted to release only what they say they will. Personally it seems safe to me and I’m confident the IAEA’s monitoring will be effective, but then again I’m living on the other side of the planet, so …

> [...] fear that the Japanese government / Fukushima’s owners can’t be trusted to release only what they say they will. Especially given the fact that Naoto Kan, the prime minister of Japan at the time of the Fukushima accident, had to go to the TEPCO HQ to force them to continue the response instead of giving up and watching a full meltdown. Japan has a lot to do in order to regain the lost trust.

So sad that many Japanese saw it as a micro management and blamed him

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#33

Post by killjoywashere »

the-dude wrote: post #12
echelon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The greens of the 80's did so much more harm than good. If we'd built the capacity then, we'd have a whole lot less carbon in the atmosphere today.

The anti-nuclear stance of the Greens can't be judged in isolation and must be seen in the context of the Cold War and the impeding Nuclear Armageddon. I don't necessarily agree with the Greens but I remember this perilous time very well. And it was the incumbent non-Green powers who created this situation. Furthermore, this is not the only theme the Greens pressed on and I must admit our country is already much much…

> cleaner air, cleaner waters

How much? Of what?

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#34

Post by fomine3 »

sooheon wrote: post #27
Prickle wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China and South Korea are making a big fuss about it, despite producing and releasing more tritium than Japan. Just a few minutes ago, The CPC (Communist Party of China) stated that it is suspending all imports of Japanese seafood to protect consumers. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-66599189 > As expected, China has imposed a blanket ban on all Japanese seafood. > Beijing announced some restrictions…

Source for claim that South Korea releases more than Japan?

https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/100521833.pdf

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#35

Post by the-dude »

ohgodplsno wrote: post #22
freetime2 wrote: post #2

> Japan says all radioactive elements have been filtered out except tritium, which is hard to remove from water. The hydrogen isotope is also discharged – at higher levels – by operational nuclear power plants, including in China and France. > That water will contain about 190 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre, according to Tepco.…

None, groups like Greenpeace and various green parties throughout Europe are being China's useful idiots. Fukushima-Daishi is going to release 900 TBq in a whole ocean over multiple years, and that dose is already estimated by taking the worst numbers we could imagine. La Hague's retreatment plant puts out 13000 TBq per year, and no one ever cared, nor did anyone see changes in the environment. Not to mention that hu…

La Hague, not The Hague ( Dutch city )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Hague_site

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#36

Post by freetime2 »

ipaddr wrote: post #16
freetime2 wrote: post #2

> Japan says all radioactive elements have been filtered out except tritium, which is hard to remove from water. The hydrogen isotope is also discharged – at higher levels – by operational nuclear power plants, including in China and France. > That water will contain about 190 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre, according to Tepco.…

10,000 is very high and this level will be lowered hopefully in time. In Ontario Canada: 20 Bq/L limit proposed by the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council (ODWAC) 190 is 10 times that limit. This isn't only about drinking water it's about eating seafood that has absorbed these chemicals (or eaten many fish who have absorbed them). I could understand the caution around seafood in that area for a period of time.

This isn't drinking water, though. This is the concentration in water that is going to be discharged into the ocean and rapidly diluted even further (1 - 2 Bq/L within a few km of where it's being discharged, and difficult to distinguish from background levels in the ocean beyond that [1]).

And as the article notes, there are active Nuclear power plants in France and China (and South Korea [2]) that discharge even more tritium per year than is planned at Fukushima. Should people also be cautious about eating seafood from those regions as well?

[1] https://www.meti.go.jp/english/earthquake/nuclear/decommissi...

[2] https://www.kns.org/files/pre_paper/17/173%EC%86%A1%EA%B7%9C...

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#37

Post by lionkor »

mr_mitm wrote: post #29
freetime2 wrote: post #2

> Japan says all radioactive elements have been filtered out except tritium, which is hard to remove from water. The hydrogen isotope is also discharged – at higher levels – by operational nuclear power plants, including in China and France. > That water will contain about 190 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre, according to Tepco.…

These facts won't convince people who believe in homeopathy, of which there are plenty. Of course there shouldn't be a controversy, but it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that there is, considering the amount of anti-scientific sentiments in the general population.

If I shit in the ocean, does the ocean become highly potent and poisonous because its highly diluted shit?

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#38

Post by Prickle »

sooheon wrote: post #27
Prickle wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China and South Korea are making a big fuss about it, despite producing and releasing more tritium than Japan. Just a few minutes ago, The CPC (Communist Party of China) stated that it is suspending all imports of Japanese seafood to protect consumers. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-66599189 > As expected, China has imposed a blanket ban on all Japanese seafood. > Beijing announced some restrictions…

Source for claim that South Korea releases more than Japan?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discharge_of_radioactive_water...

Annual release of tritium:

2020: South Korea Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant and others Total: 365tbq or 1,022mg

The total amount currently stored at Fukushima is around 860tbq, intended to be released over the course of 30 years.

So divide by 30 and that is around ~28tbq a year.

Either way, the halflife of tritium is around 14years, and it's everywhere in the ocean. This is actually a nothing burger.

Re: Japan starts release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water

#40

Post by ohgodplsno »

the-dude wrote: post #35
ohgodplsno wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None, groups like Greenpeace and various green parties throughout Europe are being China's useful idiots. Fukushima-Daishi is going to release 900 TBq in a whole ocean over multiple years, and that dose is already estimated by taking the worst numbers we could imagine. La Hague's retreatment plant puts out 13000 TBq per year, and no one ever cared, nor did anyone see changes in the environment. Not to mention that hu…

La Hague, not The Hague ( Dutch city ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Hague_site

Serves me right for wanting to properly translate my own language, forgetting some other countries have the same names. Thanks.
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