Will Japan release Fukushima water into the Pacific?

Officials in Japan have claimed that water exposed to radiation in the Fukushima nuclear disaster is now safe to dump into the Pacific. Environmentalists say the water is too contaminated.

by Julian Ryall , November 20, 2019

"#TEPCO and the government [of #Japan] have long believed that the best way to dispose of the water is to simply release it into the #ocean. They claimed until this year that contaminated water had been cleansed by a so-called advanced liquid processing system to the point that virtually all the radionuclides had been reduced to 'non-detect' levels.

"Leaked TEPCO documents, however, show that varying amounts of 62 radionuclides — including #strontium, #iodine, #cesium and #cobalt — have not been removed from the water.

"The company has also been criticized for refusing to permit independent organizations to test the water that is being stored at the site.

"Nevertheless, environmentalists fear that preparations are under way to release the water into the environment.

"'Even a year ago, when the first report on options for disposing the treated water was presented to the committee, it seemed clear to me even then that the preferred option was to release it into the ocean,' said Azby Brown, the lead researcher for Tokyo-based nuclear monitoring organization #Safecast Japan. Other options included #evaporation and burying the water.

"'My take on this is that they have already reached a decision and that all these discussions now on the options are purely theater.'"

#FukushimaWater #NoDumping #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #PacificOcean #FukushimaAnniversary #NoNewNukes #AtomkraftNeinDanke #AntiAtom

https://www.dw.com/en/japan-environmentalists-say-fukushima-water-too-radioactive-to-release/a-51331676

With a half-life of 29 years, "Everyone is exposed to small amounts of Sr-90, since it is widely dispersed in the environment and the food chain. #Strontium-90 was widely dispersed in the 1950s and 1960s in from the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.

"Strontium-90 is also found in waste from #nuclear reactors. The accident at the #Chernobyl nuclear power plant introduced a large amount of Sr-90 into the environment. Strontium-90 was also released during the 2011 Japanese nuclear incident at the #Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

"Strontium-90 can be inhaled, but ingestion in food and water is the greatest health concern. Once in the body, Sr-90 acts like calcium and is readily incorporated into bones and teeth, where it can cause #cancers of the bone, bone marrow, and soft tissues around the bone. Because Sr-90 acts like calcium, milk monitoring will be important after a large release."

#FukushimaWater #NoDumping #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #NoWar #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #PacificOcean #FukushimaAnniversary #FoodChain #Bioaccumulation

https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclide-basics-strontium-90

#Fukushima's Contaminated Wastewater May Be A Bigger Problem Than Realized

Tom Hale, August 2020

"But a new study published in the journal Science suggests this plan is currently a riskier move than previously assumed.

Marine chemists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution argue that #tritium is not the only problem after finding that other isotopes including carbon-14, #cobalt-60, and #strontium-90 still remain in the treated wastewater.

"'The concentrations of these radioactive isotopes are orders of magnitude lower than tritium but highly variable from tank to tank,' the study authors write.

“More than 70 percent of the tanks would need secondary treatment to reduce concentrations below that required by law for their release,' they added."

#FukushimaWater #NoDumping #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #PacificOcean #FukushimaAnniversary

https://www.iflscience.com/fukushimas-contaminated-wastewater-may-be-a-bigger-problem-than-realized--56939

In addition to all that, exposure to #Cobalt-60 can cause sterility and fungus infections. Lovely...

"Because it decays by gamma radiation, external exposure to Co-60 can increase cancer risk. Most Co-60 that is ingested is excreted in feces; however, a small amount is absorbed by the liver, kidneys and bones. Cobalt-60 absorbed by the liver, kidneys, or bone tissue can cause cancer from internal exposure to gamma radiation."

#FukushimaWater #NoDumping #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #PacificOcean #FukushimaAnniversary

https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclide-basics-cobalt-60

But hey, don't worry about the Cobalt-60 in "treated" #FukushimaWater! #TEPCO didn't even mention it until pressed...

Sterilizing effects of cobalt-60 and cesium-137 radiation on male sea lampreys

By: L.H. Hanson, 1990

"Male spawning-run sea lampreys Petromyzon marinus were exposed to various doses of cobalt-60 or cesium-137 radiation in an attempt to sterilize them for use in a program for controlling sea lampreys through the release of sterile males. Males captured and irradiated during the early part of the upstream migration were not effectively sterilized at the doses tested. After irradiation, the sea lampreys were more susceptible to fungal infections by Saprolegnia sp., and many died without attempting to spawn. Males captured and irradiated during the middle and late parts of the spawning migration were effectively sterilized at a dose of 2,000 rads. However, some radiation-induced mortality was observed in males captured and irradiated during the middle part of the spawning migration. Radiation is not as effective as the chemosterilant bisazir for sterilizing male sea #lampreys."

#FukushimaWater #NoDumping #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #PacificOcean #FukushimaAnniversary

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/1003421

Greta, are you there? In front of the TEPCO headquarters in #Tokyo, a large number of people holding various banners and signs gathered to express their strong opposition to the plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea. #Fukushima #FukushimaAnniversary #fukushima2023
https://english.news.cn/20230311/20711456d46b4979b1a9ff5aefa7361a/c.html

Fukushima was no accident
March 10, 2023

"The 12th anniversary of the Fukushima Nuclear disaster is an excellent moment for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to take a long, hard look in the mirror. What it will see is an agency that excels at spinning out talking points about Canada’s 'world class' nuclear industry along with hype about new unproven nuclear technologies. What it won’t see is an agency that rigorously demands answers to difficult questions like just what is happening with long-in-the-tooth pressure tube systems inside decades-old reactors.

"Unfortunately, too many of our political leaders listen to the CNSC’s spin instead of examining the agency’s actions. They are oblivious to the fact that the CNSC has allowed its own requirements for assuring pressure tube integrity to be violated, and that its staff see their job as perpetuating the #nuclear industry in #Canada first and foremost rather than truly demanding the 'world class' safety standards the agency pays lip service to in its communications.

"#Japan has important lessons to teach us about what happens when a regulatory system becomes co-opted into propping up an industry instead of examining its fundamental safety. Far from being the result of 'once in a millennium' event, the conditions for the #Fukushima disaster were sown by lax oversight and a far too cozy relationship between the nuclear industry and its supposed regulators, according to the country’s own legislative assessment. The post-accident examination carried out by the Diet (legislature) of Japan found that there was no separation between nuclear regulation and promotion in the country, with the result that the nuclear industry became 'an unstoppable force, immune to scrutiny by civil society.'"

It also found that: “Despite having a number of opportunities to take measures, regulatory agencies and #TEPCO management deliberately postponed decisions, did not take action, or took decisions that were convenient for themselves.” There are some very worrying parallels between that statement and the refusal of the #CNSC to demand real proof from #Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power that pressure tube systems are operating within safe limits."

#Fukushima #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #CANDU #FukushimaAnniversary

Read more:
https://www.cleanairalliance.org/fukushima-was-no-accident/

Their unheard voices: The fishermen of #Fukushima
Mitsuhisa Kawase
20 December 2021

"In April 2021, the Japanese government decided to discharge radioactive water stored inside the #TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the Pacific Ocean. TEPCO’s plan is to build a pipeline along the ocean bed and release diluted processed radioactive water 1 km off the coast of Fukushima. In November, #Greenpeace conducted its 33rd Fukushima radiation survey since the nuclear disaster, during which we had the opportunity to interview local fisherman Mr. Haruo Ono. Mr. Ono opens up about the pain he feels, saying that discharging radioactive water into the ocean will throw Fukushima’s fishing industry back down into the abyss.

"'How can such a thing be allowed to happen,' sighed Mr. Ono with a thick Fukushima accent. As he scanned the newspaper in his home, his eyes came to rest on an article and comments about the plan, announced by TEPCO the previous day, to discharge radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the ocean. 'The ocean’s alive, too, you know!' The hand that gripped the newspaper turned white..."
#FukushimaWater #NoDumping #WaterIsLife #StopTEPCO #NoNukes #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #PacificOcean #FukushimaAnniversary

Read more:
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/51822/unheard-voices-fishermen-fukushima/

A Dozen Years after Fukushima, Nuclear Power is Still a Death Wish
by Harvey Wasserman, March 10, 2023

"A dozen years after four atomic reactors exploded at #Fukushima, the plant STILL daily irradiates 150 tons of water which must be treated and stored forever.

"Thousands of tons more of such lethal liquid are still held in rotting tanks. The Japanese government wants to dump them in the #Pacific, but local resistance is fierce. The build-up will continue for countless years to come, with gargantuan quantities of deadly liquid ever-readier to destroy our oceans….and perhaps, eventually, human life, whose irrational addiction to atomic power has yet to abate."
#Fukushima #FukushimaAnniversary #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #StopTEPCO #TEPCOLies #TEPCO #NoDumping #FukushimaWater

Read more:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/03/10/a-dozen-years-after-fukushima-nuclear-power-is-still-a-death-wish/

Fukushima – 12 years on

by Dr. Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary

March 11 2023 marks the 12th anniversary of the #Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. It is the world’s second worst nuclear accident – only the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine was worse.

#Japan is the most #earthquake prone country in the world with over 1,000 quakes each year. On March 11, 2011 an extremely powerful earthquake occurred about 30 miles off the east coast of Japan. The resulting massive tsunami flooded the Fukushima #nuclear power station about 150 miles north of Tokyo. As a result, the three operating reactors had to be shut down, but as their cooling pumps had lost their power sources, the nuclear fuels started to heat up due to radioactive decay.

Radioactive decay cannot be stopped: nuclear power when it goes wrong can be a supremely unforgiving technology. During the week following the earthquake, four explosions and three reactor meltdowns occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant. These resulted in massive releases of radioactive gases which contaminated large areas of Japan.

In July 2012, the Japanese Parliament established the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) which reported that the accident was a man-made disaster as it had been entirely foreseeable, and that the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), had failed to meet basic safety requirements such as risk assessment, preparing for containing collateral damage, and developing evacuation plans. In October 2012, TEPCO admitted that it had failed to take necessary measures for fear of inviting lawsuits or provoking protests against its nuclear plants.

Contrary to what most of the world’s media believes, the accident is STILL occurring at Fukushima. Every day about 200 tonnes of water is pumped into the destroyed reactors to keep their radioactive fuels from melting any further than they already have. This water becomes radioactive and has to be collected and stored in over 1,500 tanks at Fukushima. It is a major problem for the Japanese Government and TEPCO: they are desperate to dump this radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean but public opposition remains strong, especially among fisherman.

As a result of the accident, nearly 300 cases of paediatric thyroid cancer have occurred in Fukushima Prefecture. These cancers are very rare: normally only one case would have arisen every two years in Fukushima Prefecture. This epidemic is similar to what happened at Chornobyl where over 6,000 extra cases of paediatric thyroid cancer occurred.

Disturbingly, the Japanese national and Fukushima prefectural governments continue to deny that radiation caused the epidemic of paediatric thyroid cancer. Instead, they claim the sudden increase was due to intensive monitoring. A number of legal cases against TEPCO and the Japanese government are continuing.

#Fukushima #FukushimaAnniversary #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #StopTEPCO #TEPCOLies #TEPCO #FukushimaWater

Read more:
https://cnduk.org/fukushima-12-years-on/

International concern over the plan to release #FukushimaWater has been widening

"Last week, the head of the 18-nation Pacific Island Forum, which includes Australia, New Zealand and other island nations, expressed concern about any impact of radiation from the water on the livelihoods of people in the region which suffered in the past from atomic bomb tests, and urged Japan to suspend the plan.

“'The region is steadfast in its position that there should be no discharge until all parties verify through scientific means that such a discharge is safe,' forum Secretary-General Henry Puna said at a public seminar on the Fukushima issue.

"Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans is still unknown and the release should be delayed. They say tritium affects humans more when it is consumed in fish."

#Fukushima #FukushimaAnniversary #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #StopTEPCO #TEPCOLies #TEPCO

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14820255

Japan marks 12 years since Fukushima nuclear disaster as concerns grow over treated radioactive water release

"In Tokyo, dozens of people gathered at an anniversary event in a downtown park, and anti-#nuclear activists staged a rally."

#Fukushima #FukushimaAnniversary #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #StopTEPCO #TEPCOLies #TEPCO #FukushimaWater

https://www.9news.com.au/world/japan-fukushima-nuclear-disaster-anniversary-concerns-treated-radioactive-water-release/ccd3dc02-52ae-449f-98a8-0475fbdb85ed

Today 12 years ago the catastrophe of #Fukushima began. Let's reflect on that!
#FukushimaAnniversary #NuclearEnergy #nuclearwaters

https://achimklueppelberg.wordpress.com/2023/03/11/twelve-years-fukushima/