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Panel says Fukushima water release into sea best option

34 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

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though evaporation was also a proven method used after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. 

But the "Government Panel" prefer dumping it into the sea. With no regard for its neighbors.

15 ( +16 / -1 )

Nearly nine years after the 2011 meltdowns of three reactor cores at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, it was a small step toward deciding what to do with the water and follows expert recommendations.

So, after ignoring the inevitable problem for nine years this is their solution. Bloody disgraceful!

Experts say there is no established method to fully separate tritium from water, but it is not a problem in small amounts.

Experts? Expert liars! Tritium can be removed from water, but it is costly. Much more costly than just dumping it into the ocean. Moreover, there is a major contradiction in the above statement. Yeah, it’s not a problem in small amounts, but they are talking about millions of tons of contaminated water that must be dumped quickly to allow space for the ever-growing storage.

The water in the tanks, however, is of a lesser concern compared to tons of extremely radioactive water in and around the melted and highly contaminated reactors. It is believed to be leaking to the sea or into groundwater and poses far greater risks in case of a major quake or a disaster, some experts say.

So, lets have the great leader Abe tell us again how the Fukushima nuclear disaster is “Under control!” Under media control is about all.

15 ( +16 / -1 )

Massive amounts of radioactive water to be dumped into the sea.

No doubt there will be another campaign encouraging us all to buy food from Fukushima at the same time...

12 ( +13 / -1 )

The government panel says to dump into the ocean.

Not expecting a government panel to propagate ideas going against the current govt. who put them there.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Friggin lauaghable. So the government sets up a government panel to accept the government’s proposal. Just another facade by Japan to make it legit.

Go on, If the J gov is so adamant that this is the solution, then dump it into the sea before the Olympics. But guarantee this won’t happen, because the Japanese are so obsessed with their image abroad. Why? Because they know it’s wrong!

The sooner Abe is replaced the better for Japan. The gov’s response to handling many issues is a disgrace to Japan and its people.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

......AFTER the Olympics no doubt..... even though it's all perfectly SAFE......

(^_-)

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Thanks 'nuclear village.'

nice job......not.

After they have dumped it the Japanese will be complaining to the WTO about other countries not buying produce from that area.

Like Do the hustle so elegantly stated,it is 'bloody disgraceful.'

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Dumping radio-active materials into the ocean was surely the original idea, the tacit rationale for building the power station on the coast in the first place (but don't tell the public). Will this waste water be just a drop in the ocean or reckless pollution that will seriously impact animal life and enter the human food chain? My ignorance of the science prevents me from coming to any informed conclusion. Help!

7 ( +8 / -1 )

saitamaliving - while the practice may not be so uncommon in other areas, I question your comment re the "openess" of the Japanese govt. re the matter.

The only reason such statements are released (other than for feel good effect) is because never in the history of the nuclear industry has one single event been so scrutinized.

Aside from official J-govt reportings, the constant monitoring, analyzing, assessing and publishing by scientists, experts, media etc ensures that the spotlight is shining directly on Fukushima and any govt actions.

For the govt to try any "secret" solution to the problem would be met with international condemnation.

Perhaps the only "secret" was, that they always planned to release it into the ocean after exhaustive research - ha, ha.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Like I have been saying since 311, the water WILL end up in the ocean, there is NO other way it can\will be dealt with.

Only question is will mother nature or man do the dumping, end result is academic.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Have I mentioned lately how I loathe all things nuclear? I do. Hate the mess.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Yeah, great idea. Trash the planet just a little more.

Agent Smith was right.....

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

limited storage space!?

limited storage space!?

So build something, anything.

invalid CSRF

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Best option for whom?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Suprise! Suprise after 9 years and "government panel" there best idea is flush it into the sea. Then encourage everyone to eat seafoods. The government really are not there because they care about people, just there to help companies make money.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

People do not trust Japan, with nuclear power

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Expect lawsuits from the states of Washington and Oregon when that released water hits West Coast USA. That's where a lot of Fukushima's garbage ended up after the tsunami.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Any radioactive water dumped off Fukushima will be picked up by the Kuroshio warm water current, and carried clockwise around the North Pacific Ocean gyre, and end up coming back to Japan and all of Pacific Island countries. At some point it will mix with the equatorial counter currents, further diluting but spreading radioactive materials even further around the Pacific.

Just wondering if J-Gov/ TEPCO have done their calculations properly, and informed all of those countries?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

What’s “the best” option mean if it’s the best among the worst? Isn’t it still the worst, after all?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Governments lie to their people.

Contaminating the sea is not the best option.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Best option for who? It’s definitely not the best option for the local fishermen or the environment in general. It’s the best option for TEPCO and the J-Gov coz it will cost them nothing!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

A Japanese government panel on Friday roughly accepted a draft proposal for releasing into the sea massive amounts

The amounts would be "massive" if released into a local pond. In the Pacific ocean, there is nothing "massive" here. Read up on the definition of dilution.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Bingo! Of course it is and always was. Just get on with it... just after the Olympics. :)

1 ( +4 / -3 )

possible health effects from releasing the radioactive water 

-possible!!??

Government officials also say tritium is routinely released from existing nuclear power plants around the world.

-and so, a big reason we don’t want nuclear plants in the first place!

controlled release to the sea is superior because its traveling route is predictable and easier to sample and monitor. 

Right, have you ever tried making poached eggs in a pot?!

“We should put Fukushima's recovery before anything else," said Takami Morita 

No, we shouldn’t put the ENTIRE planet at risk to save one area of japan

Fukushima fish has only recovered to less than one-fifth of levels before the accident, even though almost all fish from the area meet safety standards.

is it really even demand? Or tricking people into buying it? Can’t blame people for fearing Fukushima product. Now you want to spread the fear and contamination across the world? Have those standards been tampered with or modified?

This article is so infuriating!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I agree with "Do the hustle". There are proven ways to remove Tritium.

The truth is that scientists know how to create energy via Fusion. Am much safer and less expensive option. Regretfully, these scientists have been pushed to the side and ostracized. Why? In the meantime the world will need to continue to deal with these ugly situations and the fact that without Fusion technology there is no way to deal with the nuclear wastes.

Here is an idea: https://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/could-fusion-clean-up-nuclear-waste

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Wow, just dump it into the ocean, why not the currents will take it away, however while moisture is sucked into the clouds and then rains back on Japan sure sounds like a great idea along with all the microbes in the marine food chain that will make it to our tables. Expect some great fishing with oversized catches not seen in years.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What about the independent international nuclear specialists' panel thougths ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Eggs, basket?

As I said the other day here, why does it have to be one method only? Evaporation could easily be done in parallel, no?

Spread your poisons, I always reckon, certainly when considering what to eat and drink.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The cheapest option? One pipeline to the sea? Not mentioned in the article, but they were talking about mixing the release water with fresh, in order to dilute it on the way. This I can agree with, as a first step.

I feel that they should have two or even three alternating pipelines, one of which should lead to a tanker which can carry it far out to sea. Conscious of the fishery sector, the other two or more they could switch between, depending on the current, giving them options for dispersal, rather than concentrating endlessly at the same point of release.

These ten years have seemed like a long time doing nothing in storage tanks, but this is in fact bought time, i.e. potentially good in the sense that half lives have been clicking away, gradually reducing the radioactivity of the isotopes.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Of course, if they had released it all right from the beginning, there would not have been this seemingly endless debate on what to do with an impossible headache. In a bad nuclear situation, gotta give credit wherever credit is due, I reckon.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Like I noted before, it's nothing unusual to do this. Japan is just more open to facts compared to other nations: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.wdr.de%2Fwissen%2Ftechnik%2Ffukushima-radioaktives-wasser-meer-100.html

More explanation from my side one can find in numerous articles' comments about this before... I'm not going to write it down again.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

The release of contaminated water should be far away from Japan's coast, and where fish and other sea food stock live.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

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