Japan set to release treated water off Fukushima this spring or summer

Why in spring or summer? If they really have to release it would be best done during the winter months when people don’t go to the beach for swimming, surfing and fishing.

Japan ! Dumping nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean or any ocean has never happened in the history of our Planet Earth. Ocean currents will carry this nuclear-contaminated water far and wide and deep into all seven oceans of our planet. And even into the waters and ice within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. Scientists know that nuclear waste can last thousands of years If not for ever and, ever. And poison all fish that we humans eat.

Japan! Leave the nuclear-contaminated water in the tanks where they are stored, now. Japan! Do not play with nuclear-poisoned water like a child playing with fire.

Fukushima nuclear waste water contacts and cools meltdown reactors directly, still contains many kinds of radioactivity such as Strontium90, Ruthenium106, Iodine129, Cesium135 over safety standard even after filtering, it's different to treated water of other nuclear plants.

But LDP Govt and Tepco with major media of Japan call it "treated water", deceive public as if it's same to other nuclear plants' draining, plan to dump it to Pacific.

Dumping nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean or any ocean has never happened in the history of our Planet Earth.

Where do you think regular waste water from nuclear power plants has been going for the last six decades? Look up the term "effluent release" at your own leisure.

Ocean currents will carry this nuclear-contaminated water far and wide and deep into all seven oceans of our planet.

And it will be so heavily diluted that you can't even measure the increase of radioactivity anymore.

And poison all fish that we humans eat.

Okay, here's the rub: Our planet has been naturally much more radioactive before. We have put much more radioactive waste into the oceans before. There have been more than 2000 nuclear tests literally in the ocean before. Compared to all of that, the Fukushima waste water release is a tiny fart in the wind.

The fish was fine before. The fish will be fine now. And we will be fine, too.

Yes, really.

It is said to pose little risk to human health and the environment as the radiation given off by it is very weak and cannot penetrate human skin. It is also believed to be unlikely that it can accumulate in a living body.….

…

What are the risks of ingesting Tritium?

The fish ingest Tritium which is then eaten by humans.

Personally, I am not for ingesting radioactive substances…

Since they claim the water is safe,why not dump it in Japan where no other country will complain.Or just use it for irrigation in Japan or drink it.

hello greenpeace where are you now?

silence....

What are the risks of ingesting Tritium?

Thank you, that's the question usually nobody ever asks.

As you might think, it all depends on the dose. A high enough dose can possibly cause some kind of harm. Thing is, noone really knows what a harmful dose of tritium is. Tritium has a biological half life of only a few days, less in fish than in humans. It has never been linked to any sort of cancer or other diseases outside of laboratory settings. That's why tritium limits in drinking water are completely arbitrary and vary wildly between countries.

But that's not the concentrations we are talking about with Fukushima waste water. It is very weak to begin with, and after dilution in the ocean, kilometers off the shore, it is harmless. The radioactivity from tritium will be completely drowned out by the already present radioactivity in the ocean.

Since they claim the water is safe,why not dump it in Japan

They are dumping it in Japan. The ocean off Japan is Japan.

Or just use it for irrigation

That would be stupid. As a general rule, one tries not to be stupid on purpose.

or drink it.

Ah. Didn't take us long to get to "why don't they drink it then", did it?

You could drink it, actually, after treatment the water will be well within the safety limits of drinking water. That doesn't mean you should, or that you have to to prove it is safe. We accept lots of things to be safe without having or wanting to drink them. Case in point: Would you drink your bath water?

This water is not safe at all. Common sense is not so common for some.

60 times the total amount of tritium to be released from Fukushima is released every year from a reactor in the UK.

Chinese and Korean reactors release more than double the concentration to be released every year.

Still waiting to hear that better, alternative plan that no one ever offers up.

Common sense is not so common for some.

No offense, but we need neither common sense nor gut feelings.

Radioactivity is something we can measure. We are actually really good at measuring it.

Spot on comments from Roy.

They should have got on with releasing this water months ago - having to tend to all of that is, if anything just hindering the much more important job of getting on with decommissioning the nuclear reactors.

Just here to show my support for the 'dump it' crowd.

Scientists know that nuclear waste can last thousands of years If not for ever and, ever. 

I am quite sure that no valid scientific paper has ever used the term "for ever and ever." Really, less hysterics and more information would be helpful here. As Peter Neil noted above, nobody who is whinging is offering an alternative solution.

Kaowaiinekochanknaw,

they should collect up all of the discarded and used masks all over Japan (hundreds of millions of tonnes worth) and make a giant microplastic filter net before releasing the contaminated water out through it.

that is, to put it in the most charitable way possible, the silliest thing I have read in a long while. But thanks for bringing face masks into each and any discussion at every possible occasion, I guess?

They could dump it in the streams and ponds around my neighborhood. They're already choked with trash, discarded bicycles and junk. The locals wouldn't notice or probably care.

Radioactive water is harmful to the environment no matter what the level of treatment is.

Radioactive water causes various health problems for plants, animals, and humans.

If radioactive water is released into bodies of water, it can contaminate the water and the organisms that live in it. This can cause long-term damage to the ecosystem and pose a threat to human health if the contaminated water is consumed.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, which released radioactive water into the ocean, caused widespread damage to marine life and poses a threat to human health even today ~ is a good example.

Radioactive water is bad for the environment and can cause significant damage to ecosystems and human health.

Common sense tells you that even if we measure radioactive materials, it will always be radioactive materials. Small or large. It's always radio active materials that fish must swim in. Whales must jump in. You must swim in.

And, if many countries are dumping radio active materials into our oceans, does that make it right to be one of them?

Everything about the ALPS is here

https://www.meti.go.jp/english/earthquake/nuclear/decommissioning/pdf/20200210_alps.pdf

The total volume of the ALPS treated water* and the strontium removed water that is waiting for the purification treatment by ALPS is, as of October 31, 2019, about 1.17 million m3 , and the amount and concentration of tritium are, on average, about 856 TBq (TBq = Terabecquerel) and about 0.73 MBq/L (MBq = Megabecquerel) respectively

Michael Machida,

sorry, I really don't want to discard your concerns as invalid. In fact, it is good and necessary to ask questions. But you also need to sometimes accept that there are answers. And especially with radioactivity, we have very clear answers.

even if we measure radioactive materials, it will always be radioactive materials. Small or large. It's always radio active materials that fish must swim in. Whales must jump in. You must swim in.

Yes, but that is also true for the water that comes from your tap and the water you buy in bottles. It may surprise you, but that water is also radioactive.

Because everything on earth is radioactive to some extent. Radioactivity is part of the universe, part of nature, part of everything around us. Water is radioactive, grass is radioactive, I am radioactive, you are radioactive. There would be no life on earth without radioactivity, and life on earth would be impossible without it.

Just because we can mesasure radioactivity does not mean that the amount we measure is harmful. It is, as ever, the dose that makes the poison.

You do know that MÉTI is a Japanese government department that is enthusiastic about reopening Japanese NPPs and has shares, stocks and a rotation of staff from the ministry to Cody well paid jobs in nuclear industry. So I guess you can trust what they say…not.

The total volume of the ALPS treated water* and the strontium removed water that is waiting for the purification treatment by ALPS is, as of October 31, 2019, about 1.17 million m3 , and the amount and concentration of tritium are, on average, about 856 TBq

Fun fact: That's about 2.4 grams of tritium.

Roy SophveasonToday  11:08 am JST

Fun fact: That's about 2.4 grams of tritium.

It is fun only for you.

If we voted for nuclear power then we must live with the consequences.

The IAEA says it’s safe to follow the filtering and diluting regime, so long as it’s monitored and enforced. Of course nothing is literally 100% safe, and I would not drink the seawater anywhere, but they mean relatively safe within the overall scheme of things. Russian and China can butt out as they are already polluting the seas. Korea’s stance is more mature.

Naturally no nuclear power at all would be the safest option, but that is not really the question here.

Just start the flow gently and keep a close eye on it. No hurry. If any rules are broken, take TEPCO to court ASAP. Make sure they are aware of the consequences.

And it will be so heavily diluted that you can't even measure the increase of radioactivity anymore.

If that’s the case you shouldn’t be afraid to drink the water when you’re thirsty…

The world will find out two months after they start releasing it. Better to ask for forgiveness and all.

If that’s the case you shouldn’t be afraid to drink the water

I wouldn't. Not because it's dangerous, but because it's sea water. Would you drink sea water?

when you’re thirsty…

Even worse, what good would salt water do when I'm thirsty?

They can always remove the salt from the water and you won’t have to worry about salt

Are you saying they should drink it after filtering but before they have diluted it with seawater, and before they then release it to blend into the ocean?

Or are you saying they should drink the ocean water around there after removing the salt? In that case I would probably not worry too much about having a glass myself.

@Stephen chin.

Not correct. During the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, contaminated water was released into nearby rivers and eventually made its way into the black sea.

In 1950s and 1950s both united states and the Soviet union dumped nuclear waste and other radioactive material into the ocean.

However international treaties ask countries to store their nuclear waste on land or in specially designed facilities.

Japan need to reconsider to honor those treaties but do not say it has never happened before.

However international treaties ask countries to store their nuclear waste on land or in specially designed facilities.

That may apply to spent nuclear fuel, but certainly not to waste water. The most important treaty, INFCIRC/546, the 1997 "Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management" (really rolls off the tongue, that one) asks from its contracting parties, with regard to waste water discharges, that they

(i) to keep exposure to radiation as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account; and

(ii) so that no individual shall be exposed, in normal situations, to radiation doses which exceed national prescriptions for dose limitation which have due regard to internationally endorsed standards on radiation protection.

Other treaties and conventions like the 1996 Convention on Nuclear Safety, the 1957 Euratom treaty and its many many revisions, the 1998 Sintra statement, and the 1992 Agenda 21 only ask that the waste water release must be communicated to the people affected by it (and that workers must be protected, but, eh). And you'd think that especially the 1998 OSPAR Convention would have to say something pertinent with regards to the ocean, being specifically to protect an ocean, but no, it only asks to take radiological impacts "into account".

I'd be happy to be wrong on this one, though. Maybe you can supply some source?

The final concentration will meet the same standards used for drinking water today, which is lower in Japan than most countries.

It’s stunning that in this age, with scientific information available at our fingertips, so many people comment without five minutes of research. People have incredible opportunities to be more knowledgeable, to be smarter, but choose to remain in the darkness of ignorance.

It’s no wonder no one can offer up a better solution.

Japanese wanted nuclear power and now they must deal with nuclear waste. A few fishermen complaining about radioactive fish, not being able to swim in the sea and increased risk of cancer, who really cares, certainly not the Japanese.