New #Fukushima #nuclear #wastewater leak heightens international concerns

August 18, 2023

"The latest reported leak of nuclear-contaminated water from the #FukushimaDaiichi nuclear power plant has again heightened international concerns over the competence of Tokyo Electric Power Company (#TEPCO) and the lack of effective regulation from the Japanese government, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

"Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing when asked to comment on media reports that TEPCO recently confirmed a leak of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as a result of a crack in the hose used to transport the wastewater.

"The legitimacy and safety of #Japan's ocean discharge plan have long been questioned by the international community, and people in Fukushima have pointed out many times that since the nuclear plant accident, TEPCO's handling of the aftermath has been highly problematic, Wang said.

"People are questioning TEPCO's ability to properly handle the nuclear-contaminated water, Wang added.

"'Can TEPCO handle the wastewater in a safe and responsible way throughout the process? Can it manage the 30-year-long discharge without mistakes and errors? Can it ensure the long-term effectiveness and reliability of the treatment facility? Can it conduct wastewater sampling and monitoring activities in strict compliance with the rules? The international community is very doubtful about that,' Wang said.

"Wang reiterated that the Japanese side should take seriously the legitimate concerns of the international community and the people in Japan, stop pushing through the ocean discharge plan, have full and sincere communication with neighboring countries, dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a truly responsible way, and accept rigorous international oversight."

http://en.ce.cn/main/latest/202308/18/t20230818_38678174.shtml

#WaterIsLife #NoNukes #NoMoreNukes #RethinkNotRestart #Nucleare #SaveThePlanet #FukushimaDaiichi #FukushimaWater #NoDumping #NuclearWaste #TEPCOLies #Biden #Kishida #PacificOcean

Leaks found in hose to transfer #Fukushima #nuclear-contaminated #wastewater

Editor: huaxia, 2023-08-11

"The operator of the crippled #FukushimaDaiichi nuclear power plant has found leaks in a hose used to transfer nuclear-contaminated wastewater, local media reported on Friday.

"Tokyo Electric Power Company (#TEPCO) conducted a probe after higher-than-usual levels of #radioactive material were detected in #rainwater in the dike around a storage tank, public broadcaster NHK reported.

"An inspection found that some water had leaked from cracks of about four centimeters on a hose being used for transferring radioactive wastewater at the time, the report said.

"As the hose was used to transfer radioactive wastewater from another tank, TEPCO analyzed water in the dike around the tank and detected up to 67,000 becquerels of tritium per liter, which exceeded 60,000 becquerels, the standard set by the Japanese government for releasing tritium into the environment.

"TEPCO said that someone caused the cracks with a cutter blade while removing the packaging around the hose after it was delivered, adding that the water that leaked remained inside the barrier.

"TEPCO added that the leak would not affect the plan to discharge the radioactive wastewater from the plant into the ocean.

"Despite strong opposition from neighboring and #PacificIsland countries, as well as local fishermen over the irreversible impacts on the marine environment and public health, the Japanese government and TEPCO have been pushing for release of the radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant hit by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011."

http://www.chinaview.cn/20230811/04608123df0245b294d5fddaaee87191/c.html

#Fukuleaks #TEPCOLies #StopTEPCO #OpTEPCO #WaterIsLife #NoDumping #FukushimaWater

#Japan will soon release #Fukushima #radioactive water into the #ocean. How worried should we be?

Some have cast doubt on the #IAEA’s findings, with China recently arguing that the group’s assessment “is not proof of the legality and legitimacy” of Fukushima’s wastewater release.

By Jessie Yeung, Mayumi Maruyama and Emiko Jozuka, July 5, 2023

"Robert H. Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of #Hawaii at Manoa, is among a group of international scientists working with the #PacificIslandForum to assess the wastewater release plan – including visits to the Fukushima site, and meetings with TEPCO, Japanese authorities and the IAEA. After reviewing the details of the plan, Richmond called it 'ill-advised' and premature.

"One concern is that diluting the wastewater might not be enough to reduce its impact on marine life. #Pollutants like tritium can pass through various levels of the #FoodChain – including plants, animals, and bacteria – and be '#bioaccumulated,' meaning they will build up in the marine #ecosystem, he said.

"He added that the world’s oceans are already under stress from #ClimateChange, ocean #acidification, #overfishing and #pollution. The last thing it needs is to be treated like a 'dumping ground,' he said.

"And the potential risks won’t just affect the #AsiaPacific region. One 2012 study found evidence that bluefin #tuna had transported #radionuclides – radioactive isotopes like the ones in #nuclear #wastewater – from Fukushima across the Pacific to California."

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/07/04/asia/japan-fukushima-wastewater-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html

#NoDumping #FukushimaWater #TEPCOLies #PacificOcean #WaterIsLife #Corporatism #Corruption #JapanGovernment

After finding out about how #ExxonKnew and hid information, do we really trust big #corporations and government agencies beholden to them to look out for #MotherEarth? I think not!

Residents worry ahead of #Fukushima water release [video]

AP, July 24, 2023

The #FukushimaDaiichi #nuclear power plant is expected to start releasing treated #radioactive #wastewater into the #sea within weeks. It's unclear whether, or how, damaging that would be, but residents say they feel helpless. (July 24) (AP video/Ayaka McGill)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/residents-worry-ahead-of-fukushima-water-release/vi-AA1eh3Nf?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=ed1ca704c7b84718817be0a63ff42819&ei=7

#FukushimaWater #WaterIsLife #NoDumping #TEPCOLies #Japan

Is the U.S. currently in the latest Covid surge?

The Waste Water Bio Bot has found a 46% increase in covid counts in the waste water in the South, and on both coasts of the U.S. ER visits and test positivity rates are also up.

Internationally, there are still 9,000 excess deaths each day, with over 21 million excess deaths since the pandemic began.

#covid #COVID19 #pandemic #WasteWater #PublicHealth #CovidIsNotOver

Why China and many others are opposed to the release of nuclear contaminated water in Fukushima

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/07/16/national/china-japan-fukushima-water-release-explainer/

Japan's plan is facing a strong backlash from China, South Korea and other locations in the Pacific. But where are the concerns coming from?

“If some people think that the nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima is safe to drink or swim in, we suggest that Japan save the nuclear-contaminated water for these people to drink or swim in, instead of releasing it into the sea and causing widespread concerns internationally,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

“As an environmental biologist, I strongly adhere to what’s called the precautionary principle,” Robert Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, said when asked about China’s ban on importing Japanese seafood. “In the absence of data showing something is safe, you don't assume that it's safe. You rather put in those protective measures to be very conservative.”

#foodchaincollapse #pollution #radiation #Fukushima #wastewater #release #oceans #environment #longtermeffects

Early indications of a Covid Uptick:

Is the party over?

After a relatively long period of extremely low Covid activity in the U.S., researchers are seeing upticks in wastewater counts in the South, Northeast and West, as well as rising hospitalization rates in Hawaii, Alaska and Florida.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/early-indicators-hint-us-covid-19-uptick

#CovidIsNotOver #covid #COVID19 #pandemic #WasteWater

Dark forces lurking behind dishonest TEPCO

Updated 22:00, 12-Jun-2023

"Tokyo Electric Power Company (#TEPCO) announced that facilities used to release the nuclear-#contaminated wastewater from the #FukushimaDaiichi #Nuclear Power Plant into the sea will be put into trial operation on Monday, according to local media outlets. The move is widely seen as a pilot for #Japan's formal dumping plan.

"After TEPCO sent seawater into an underwater tunnel designed to dump the nuclear-contaminated water into the #ocean last week, the marine #fish caught in the harbor of the plant were found to have 180 times the maximum limit of the #radioactive element #caesium allowed in Japan's food safety law.

"Despite this worrying result, the International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) asserted in a report released on May 31 that TEPCO had demonstrated 'capabilities for accurate and precise measurements of the radionuclides present in the treated water stored on site.' The report concluded that no additional radionuclides at significant levels were detected. The contradicting findings make the public even more concerned about Japan's dumping plan."

"In an interview with Chinese media, #ShaunBurnie, an #environmentalist who has stayed in Japan for almost 30 years, straightforwardly expressed his disagreement with the IAEA's report. TEPCO has only tested 20 percent of the #wastewater tanks, Burnie said. In addition, third-party laboratories in the U.S., Switzerland and South Korea have taken the samples of only 25-liter water (before dilution) each, while there's more than 1.3 million metric tons of nuclear-contaminated water stored in the plant. The amount of samples was unbelievably limited."

#WaterIsLife #Fukushima #StopTEPCO #TEPCOLies #NoDumping #FukushimaWater

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-06-12/Dark-forces-lurking-behind-dishonest-TEPCO-1kzmruhxAGY/index.html

Latest snapshot of recent #wastewater #SARSCoV2 data from Clark County (WA) and Multnomah County (OR). There's a lot of commerce/travel between these two counties, Multnomah is much more populous but no variant data reported. Seems to be idling btwn 500-800 copies/mL

Data from https://biobot.io/data/

81% of toilet samples from US-bound planes had Omicron RNA

Close the borders?
Nah, how about: Wear A Mask?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7208a3.htm

#WasteWater #COVID19 #pandemic #CovidIsNotOver #WearAMask

60% of Las Vegas Covid viral load due to tourists, according to new study of waste water data.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/what-stays-vegas-tourist-sewage-may-inflate-community-covid-prevalence

#COVID19 #WasteWater

I love living in the northeast for reasons I can rarely articulate in early-mid January.. I love it less at the moment than previous in seasons.

The good news here in #Boston is that we're not seeing anywhere close to the same outrageous 8.5k+ copies/mL spike on Dec 29 that we saw last winter at this time (we're roughly 1/4 of what we were this time last year) but also we're lagging about a week behind in most regions so there's still time. Would love to see #Paxlovid concentrations plotted, too.
https://biobot.io/data/#county-25025
#XBB #BQ1 #COVID19 #Wastewater #COVID #pandemic

As the *official* case count drops to just over 10 new cases a day in #Allegheny county #Virginia, viral copies per mL in #wastewater are 4x the national average and #BQ1 accounts for 82% of the sample. #COVID19 #pandemic
https://biobot.io/data/#county-51005

#Covid: experts estimate 9,000 deaths a day in #China. The USA says it may sample #wastewater from planes.
Infectious disease experts believe strategy more effective in slowing virus spread than new travel restrictions, as health data firm says thousands are likely dying daily in China https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/30/china-covid-experts-estimate-9000-deaths-a-day-as-us-says-it-may-sample-wastewater-from-planes?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Oh goody. The biobot #wastewater levels are on track to overtake July's surge within the next few days. At the pitch of that curve, January is going to be unreal. #covid

I remember being super anxious about flying to #Louisiana in October and being reassured that there were "very few" cases in #NewOrleans where I was staying. biobot #COVID19 #WasteWater data shows this may not have been entirely accurate...

Gee, what could possibly have caused a national trend to grow on average by 500 viral copies/mL of #wastewater 2 weeks after the end of November? Nothing comes easily to mind.. #pandemic #COVID #COVID19

For the last 6 months we've sustained a #covid infection rate commensurate with the initial wave of the pandemic. #Wastewater data suggests US covid rates are on the rise again this holiday season

https://biobot.io/data/

It seems the next line of attack on reproductive healthcare may come in the form of attempts to regulate wastewater - either by going after the drugs themselves as harmful pollutants (this seems unlikely to work because there are so many drugs in our wastewater stream that it opens a can of worms) or by going after “disposal of fetal remains”. That’s terrifying because how do we distinguish from regular #menstruation products? #abortion #wastewater

RT @RajlabN@twitter.com

Big increase in #Wastewater #SARSCoV2 content from the USA-West region (containing the US States: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)

Data: @BiobotAnalytics@twitter.com