AAAS: "Despite opposition, Japan may soon dump Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific" Japanese government planning to release 1.3 million tons of radioactive water from the now-defunct Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster. Releases could begin this spring or summer, but broad opposition swelling from 'Japan’s fishing industry and consumers, countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and some marine scientists.' Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), owner of the plant, + the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claim the discharges would meet international safety standareds. The continuous cooling water pumped through the reactors picks up radionuclides, much of which is captured by a specialized filtering process. While TEPCO plans to dilute the waste with massive amounts of seawater to reduce tritium levels below regulatory standards for drinking water, but tritium level would still be thousands of times higher than natural seawater. 'TEPCO has sampled small amounts of water from just one-quarter of the tanks, he says, and measured concentrations of tritium and only a limited number of other radionuclides.' In some tanks cesium-137 + strontium-90 has turned up in wildly varying concentrations. U.S. National Association of Marine Laboratories also opposes the plans, citing “a lack of adequate and accurate scientific data supporting Japan’s assertion of safety.” Since half-life of tritium 12 yrs, holding water in tanks for more decades would attenuate the radiation. Or bioremediation with oysters could trap the tritium in their shells. Or water could be used to make concrete, from which beta radiation would be unable to escape. Abundant solutions, but bureaucracy pushing ahead.   #fukushima   #radiation
