INTRODUCTION:
The build-up of
contaminated water,
at the destroyed
Fukushima nuclear
power plant in Japan,
has been one
major concern
in the clean-up,
which will require
decades.
SUMMARY:
In 2018, Fukushima
nuclear plant operator,
TEPCO, apologized
after admitting it lied
about cleanup efforts.
They admitted their
filtration systems
had NOT removed
all dangerous
materials from
the water.
Tokyo Electric,
or TEPCO,
has now collected
1.2 million tonnes
of radioactive water
on the Fukushima site.
The water was from
the cooling pipes,
that were used
to keep fuel cores
from melting,
after the plant
was crippled
by an earthquake ,
and tsunami,
back in 2011.
The site is
now running
out of room
for more water
storage tanks.
Roughly 1,000 tanks
held 1.18 million
tonnes of water,
on Dec. 12, 2019,
not very far from
the total capacity
of 1.37 million tonnes.
Decommissioning
the nuclear plant
( removing spent nuclear fuel )
is set to begin in 2021,
at reactor No. 2.
Right now,
contaminated
water tanks
take up space
needed for
that work.
So Japan will
flood the ocean
with radioactive
waste water,
perhaps
starting
in 2021.
Even if they
can figure out
how to work
around all
those tanks,
TEPCO
expects to
run out of space
for more tanks
in 2022.
The government
claims discharging
that water in the Pacific
is seen by "experts"
as the most logical
option.
And it's also
the cheapest
option.
I hope "costs less"
was never a factor
in the decision !
Evaporation was
successfully used
for the cleanup
after the 1979
Three Mile Island
disaster in the U.S.
But Japan
is claiming
that dumping
the water
in the ocean
will cut radiation
exposure by
more than half,
compared with
evaporation.
The government
"plans" to remove
all radioactive
particles from
the water,
except tritium,
an isotope
of hydrogen
that can't be
effectively
removed
with current
technology.
They claim
normally operating
nuclear plants
around the world
release water that
contains tritium
into the oceans.
I have not yet determined
how it would be possible
to "filter out" almost all
radiation from that 2011
contaminated water.
But I do remember
the Japanese
government
lied for months
about the
full extent
of the fallout
caused by the
Fukushima
nuclear disaster.
DETAILS:
A panel of experts
advised Japan’s
government
on a disposal method
for radioactive water.
They recommended
dumping it into
the Pacific Ocean.
Based on
past practices,
the government
is very likely
to accept the
recommendation.
The recommendation
needs to be confirmed
by the head of the panel,
Nagoya University
Professor Emeritus
Ichiro Yamamoto.
And then officially
submitted to
the government,
at a date not yet set.
But the government
IS running out of time
to make a decision.
Panel members
stressed the need
to select only
proven methods.
So they ruled out
underground storage,
that lacks a track record
of success.
The panel narrowed
the choices to releasing
the contaminated water
into the Pacific Ocean,
or letting it evaporate.
They also said
"the government
should make clear
that releasing
the water
would have
a significant
social impact."
“Compared
to evaporation,
ocean release
can be done
more securely,”
the panel claimed.
After the 2011
nuclear disaster,
South Korea
banned imports
of all seafood
from Japan’s
Fukushima region.
South Korea
won't like
the new plan
at all !