Japan: Sorry, But We Have to Dump This Fukushima Radioactive Water Into the Ocean
In case you dont know, the destroyed nuclear plant has been dumping radioactive particles into the sea anyway all this time. I had heard they tried to freeze the ground to prevent that, but its been mixing with ground water and leeching anyway.
They finally acknowledge they cant store anymore, so will dilute it with sea water and pump it out to sea, as there is nothing else they can do.
Japan going to finally dump stored Fukushma radiation into the ocean
Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by Scott Downey, Apr 9, 2021.
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Scott Downey Well-Known Member
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Within our world, there are naturally occurring radioactive substances. One of the problems of producing electricity using nuclear power, is the process creates additional "man-made" radioactive substances. Once such element is "tritium" an atom of Hydrogen containing two neutrons as well as the single proton. The element is radioactive and has a "half-life" of around 80 years. So it will take around 600 years for the stuff produced by the operation of Fukushima to decay to the point the "tritium" is essentially gone. However, in the mean time, because the element is mixed with water made up of ordinary non-radioactive hydrogen, the level of radiation will not have known adverse affects. In other words, near the same level as naturally occurring radiation.
What Fukushima demonstrated is that an unanticipated event can render the safety systems inoperative, resulting in the release of potentially hazardous radiation into the environment.
Here is a link to background information:
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/tritium-radiation-fs.html -
Scott Downey Well-Known Member
The Cesium 137 has a long half life of 30.7 years, some radioactive elements last thousands of years.
I agree dilution is all they can really do with the waste.
Radiation does cause cell damage and cancers. Avoid eating ocean fish is something I do. -
Scott Downey Well-Known Member
Radionuclide Basics: Strontium-90 | Radiation Protection | US EPA
half-life of 28.8 years
Bad thing with this one, it replaces calcium in your bones.
To lessen risks, take calcium pills. -
Since fish is beneficial for most people, your risk analysis is beyond my understanding... -
Scott Downey Well-Known Member
Fukushima Radiation in U.S. West Coast Tuna | NOAA Fisheries
The severity of the impact of radiation depends on the exposure, either chronic (continuous exposure over a long period of time) or acute (short-term exposure). Radioactive materials that release energy in the form of ionizing radiation may cause damage to living cells by changing the state of atoms inside genetic material, in turn causing mutations to DNA. However, type of exposure is important (internal vs. external), the dose, the radionuclide's half-life, where it concentrates in your body, and how your body metabolizes it.
Experts disagree on the exact definition and degree of "low-dose" exposure, but the protection standards for the U.S. conservatively assumes that any exposure to radiation carries some risk and risk increases with dose.
Radiation permeation in ocean
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I eat fish, and enjoy the flavor. My favorites are Salmon, Halibut, and White Seabass. Everything we eat has some level of radiation. And then there are the imaging methods (X-ray) and treatments (radiation therapy). Yes, radiation can damage cells, and naturally occurring radiation's impact collectively on the human race over time is not well known. I think reasonable people would say adding radioactivity to our environment should be avoided.
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Scott Downey Well-Known Member
What is also sad, the damaged reactors will continue to leak radioactive elements into the ocean, that can not be stopped. So yes, half life, it slowly dissipates intensity, but reactor leakage also adds more and more, so the ocean sea life will have to deal with this for a long time, not just a few years.
Other thing is like in the case of Chernobyl, animal life is flourishing there, no people around, many more animals live there now. But they dont feel the long term effects of radiation like people will, as they naturally don't live long enough to accumulate enough radiation defects to develop cancers or other diseases. So they thrive, and that was unexpected