Fukushima To Release Water

Fukushima nuclear plant, photo from IAEA

The Japanese government has decided to release a million metric tonnes of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the nearby ocean. China and South Korea alike are complaining, as are local fisherman and environmental groups throughout the world, citing the dangers of releasing radioactive water into the ocean. The plans call for the release to be done in two years, with the water first going through screening to clear most of the radioactive particles from the water. Protesters are pointing out that not all of the radioactive elements can be cleared, and that even the Japanese government admits that, recognizing their inability to screen tritium in their official news release.

The complainants are almost completely wrong on this issue. China and South Korea are in political contests with Japan and environmental groups want to push their anti-science message. The local fishing coalitions have a great point in that the value of their industry will be devastated, but that will be due to fear and superstition.

Seawater is naturally radioactive. Water Encyclopedia lists the many radionuclides which are found in ocean water, and their sources. One of the points they make early in their article is this: “Nearly all of the radioactive material in the ocean is natural, and represents material that has been on Earth since its formation.”

Seawater is not highly radioactive, while the water being released is currently filled with radioactive particles. That is the reason for the screening, where the water will be passed through ion exchangers designed to attract and bond with radioactive particles. These devices will be able to pull all ionized particles, which is the vast majority of them; what will be left will be tritium: a single Hydrogen atom with two neutrons. Unlike deuterium, with its single neutron, tritium is not stable. It will eventually release its extra neutron and decay to deuterium, and that neutron release – radiating a particle – is radioactivity.

Tritium rarely occurs in nature but often occurs in some processes like cooling nuclear reactor cores. Prior large releases have been used to track ocean currents, as scientists have watched to follow the travel and dissipation of tritium through the ocean.

Those quantities aren’t dangerous, though. They’re enough to be detected, but not enough to cause damage unless they stay in one area and remain concentrated… and water doesn’t do that. This can be observed on the molecular level with a simple experiment: place a teabag into a cup of hot water. Over the next few minutes, the water will slowly turn brown, first with tendrils extending from the teabag and eventually filling the cup. On the oceanic level, much stronger tidal forces also come into play. Water dilutes intrusive substances quickly, and other bodies of water most easily.

A million metric tonnes of water seems large, and the number grows larger when converted into gallons: about 264 gallons per tonne, or about 264 million gallons. That’s about 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools. That seems large until compared against the size of the Pacific ocean, where any given bay contains trillions of gallons.

Even were every water molecule in the Fukushima plants tritium, it would be quickly dissipated through the seawater with no measurable rise in radiation levels after a few days in the currents. The opposite is true; the water in the Fukushima plants has far less measured radiation from tritium than the natural radiation from seawater. The release of water from Fukushima will have an infinitesimal effect on the much greater quantity of water from the ocean… and that effectively immeasurable effect will be to drop the radioactivity, not increase it.

There is no radiological danger from the release, provided the particulate is screened first. Not a small bit, not an uncertain amount. None.

When NBC includes lines in their story on the topic like “Some scientists say the long-term impact on marine life from low-dose exposure to such large volumes of water is unknown.” they are encouraging environmental fearmongering, as are the mass of articles from the press today which present radiological concerns about the release by environmental activists with an equal perspective; they are akin to articles which recommend taking known precautions against COVID-19 while spending equal time presenting the arguments for dosing with hydroxychloroquine or that breathing through a mask increases one’s chances for getting the disease. They are technically accurate, because the reporters are merely reporting the opinions and beliefs of others, but by presenting those others as speaking from a position of knowledge and authority they are fostering ignorance.

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About AlienMotives 1991 Articles
Ex-Navy Reactor Operator turned bookseller. Father of an amazing girl and husband to an amazing wife. Tired of willful political blindness, but never tired of politics. Hopeful for the future.