Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumReuters: Japan PM tells fisheries minister to apologise for calling Fukushima wastewater 'contamina...
Japan PM tells fisheries minister to apologise for calling Fukushima wastewater 'contaminated'August 31, 2023 7:28 AM EDT
TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered his fisheries minister to apologise on Thursday for referring to treated radioactive water being released from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant as "contaminated" and told him to retract his remark.
Fisheries minister Tetsuro Nomura was heard calling the treated radioactive water "contaminated" when speaking to reporters earlier in the day following a meeting with Kishida.
He said his discussions with the premier involved "the evaluation of the contaminated water" after its release into the Pacific.
Nomura later apologised and retracted the comment but said he would not resign over it, the Jiji news service reported.
LiberaBlueDem
(908 posts)That water is so pure they're gonna bottle it and sell it for $5 each!
stopdiggin
(11,361 posts)as some are trying to make out. (the amount of radioactivity in the water released is exceedingly low). Interestingly - also in the news is China (that most environmentally friendly superpower) making a concerted effort to propagandize on the event. "Go, Xi!"
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)Its got a nice explanation.
stopdiggin
(11,361 posts)enough to feel confident that my opinions here have some validity. The 'risk factor' is fairly low - and the 'alternatives' are all uniformly much more problematic.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)i.e. the risk is relatively low. Every nuclear plant in the world is releasing tritium into the water.
LiberaBlueDem
(908 posts)You have seen a report from them detailing what's in the water?
No, and you never will, so why do you claim anything about the radioactivity of water that has been completely contaminated?
Your propaganda is not going to cut it.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)Its hardly propaganda. I feel it does a good job of presenting both sides of the issue including what is in the water.
Im no great fan of nuclear fission plants, but I am a great fan of the truth.
stopdiggin
(11,361 posts)is quite low, and deemed substantially safe by knowledgeable people. I'm sorry that you apparently feel differently.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/22/japan-to-start-releasing-fukushima-water-from-thursday
LiberaBlueDem
(908 posts)The greenwashing of Fukushima started the first day it blew up.
Nothing to see here! And you damn sure, not you or PBS or anybody will ever see a true report of what is in that water
stopdiggin
(11,361 posts)and the IAEA are engaged in cover up and propaganda? At some point one has to start thinking 'conspiracy' ...
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)They did not claim that the meltdowns were somehow good for the environment, simply that things were not as bad as they appeared. By initially downplaying the gravity of the situation TEPCO damaged their credibility.
The key contaminant of concern here is tritium. The EPA has a good write-up on tritium:
https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclide-basics-tritium
Tritium (abbreviated as ³H) is a hydrogen atom that has two neutrons in the nucleus and one proton. Tritium is produced naturally in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays strike nitrogen molecules in the air. Tritium is also produced during nuclear weapons explosions, and as a byproduct in nuclear reactors. Although tritium can be a gas, its most common form is in water because radioactive tritium reacts with oxygen to form water.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)Published 1:17 AM EDT, Tue August 22, 2023
What are the risks?
Though the radioactive wastewater contains some dangerous elements, the majority of these can be removed through various treatment processes, according to TEPCO.
The real issue is there is no technology available to take away a hydrogen isotope called radioactive tritium, and authorities and experts are divided on the risk it poses, if any.
TEPCO, Japans government, and the IAEA argue that tritium occurs naturally in the environment, including in rain and tap water, so the wastewater is safe, especially as it will be released slowly over decades.
But some scientists worry that the wastewater, even diluted, could harm marine life, and pollutants could accumulate in the already frail ecosystem.
stopdiggin
(11,361 posts)for offering up solid information. (and attempting to moderate, in some degree, the thread). Kudos.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)(I try.)
LiberaBlueDem
(908 posts)Greenwashing TEPCO and Japan without any science reminds me of the climate deniers
Let me know when you see a WQ report detailing what is in the water?
The nuclear scientists from Korea are not happy. Why is that? Because they know what is in the water. It is poison.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)No, seriously
What sort of science are you looking for?
LiberaBlueDem
(908 posts)A WQ report detailing what's in the water.
Yeah, nuclear power is so clean there is no reason for the NRC, because the huge money behind nuclear power and the DoD would never lie and they always tell the truth to CNN and the UN and all the rest.
What science, you ask? Give me a break, you have no science.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)By Geoff Brumfiel, Kat Lonsdorf, Rachel Carlson, Rebecca Ramirez, Regina G. Barber
What do scientists think?
Most scientists say the plan will have a negligible impact on the environment.
"The risk is really, really, really low," says Jim Smith, a professor of environmental science at the University of Portsmouth. "I would call it not a risk at all. We've got to put radiation in perspective, and the plant releaseif it's done properlythen, the doses that people get and the doses that the ecosystem get just won't be significant, in my opinion."
However, some people are still worried about long-term risks of the plan, both to people and to the environment.
"We're not going to suffer directly from the doses from this. But it's, you know, one of the many things we're adding to our ocean that if you have an alternative, we certainly should consider more fully," says Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "And I don't think that's been done in the past couple of years."
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)Japan has begun discharging treated radioactive wastewater from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the Pacific Ocean, 12 years on from the major meltdown there, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on Thursday.
The decision to release the water into the sea has sparked criticism in Japan and the region.
Long-term commitment
The IAEA has been providing real-time data on the controlled release of the treated water, including on water flow rates and radiation monitoring.
The IAEA has committed to be present before, during and after this process, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a video statement.
An IAEA report issued last month said Japans approach and activities to discharge the treated water were consistent with relevant international safety standards.
Furthermore, the controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)The IAEA is providing live data from Japan on the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) on the IAEA website. The data provided includes water flow rates, radiation monitoring data and the concentration of tritium after dilution.
Japans Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the FDNPS operator, today began the controlled discharge of ALPS-treated water into the sea. At the same time, TEPCO began transmitting data from various points in the process to the IAEA.
The IAEA is continuing its impartial, independent and objective safety review of Japans discharge of water stored at FDNPS.
Japans Tokyo Electric Power Company is transmitting data from various points of the controlled discharge of ALPS-treated water into the sea. (Image: A. Vargas/IAEA)
The Agency issued its comprehensive report on the safety review of the ALPS-treated water at the FDNPS on 4 July. In the report, the IAEA concluded that Japans approach and activities to discharge ALPS-treated water are consistent with relevant international safety standards. The report noted that the controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water to the sea, as currently planned and assessed by TEPCO, would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)LiberaBlueDem
(908 posts)The IAEA website is not about to publish anything that discounts its chief's proclamation that it's all perfectly safe
NNadir
(33,544 posts)Last edited Fri Sep 1, 2023, 12:53 PM - Edit history (1)
...although in reality, given the death toll from air pollution and more recently climate change, they've killed a lot of people, vastly more people than antivaxxers, the more modern version of conspiracy theorists, could have hoped to kill.
It works out to roughly 80 million people killed by air pollution driven by antinuke fear and ignorance since Fukushima.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)If so, Id love to see it!
Remember, its not just the IAEA saying that theres really very little risk here.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)If Japan was able to remove all radioactive elements from the waste water before piping it into the ocean, perhaps it would not have been so controversial.
The problem is being caused by a radioactive element of hydrogen called tritium, which can't be removed from the contaminated water because there is no technology to do it. Instead, the water is diluted.
The IAEA, which has a permanent office at Fukushima, said an "independent, on-site analysis" had shown that the tritium concentration in the water discharged was "far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per litre (Bq/L)".
That limit is six times less than the World Health Organization's limit for drinking water, which is at 10,000 Bq/L, a measure of radioactivity.
Right now (surprise, surprise!) China is mounting a major disinformation campaign.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/world/asia/china-fukushima-water-protest.html
By exaggerating the risks from Japans discharge of treated wastewater, Beijing hopes to cast Japan and its allies as conspirators in malfeasance, analysts say.
NNadir
(33,544 posts)Antinukes are spectacular for greenwashing fossil fuels.
There is something called "the scientific literature," and a vague bullshit appeal without references is just that, bullshit.
It would be interesting if the people using electricity provided by dangerous natural gas and coal to make stupid statements could demonstrate that the tritium being released will kill anyone, never mind as many as the 19,000 people who will die today from air pollution because of uneducated antinukes expressing their contempt for science have led to the continued use of fossil fuels.
For the record my son is a nuclear scientist, living and working among nuclear scientists, and trust me, they believe that the people carrying on about this are out of their minds.