So I googled what the background level of Tritium is in seawater. The general consensus is that this various based upon where in the world you are, but it’s typically around 500 - 750 becquerels of tritium per m3. The amount they’re releasing is 190 becquerels of tritium per m3, or in other words, they’re reducing the average tritum radioactivity of the water…
So why is this news? Why haven’t the journalists gone, “Stupid people don’t understand how radioactivity and volumetrics work, and are complaining about the Japanese releasing water that is so highly treated it’s cleaner than the ocean average.”?
–edit– Not going to edit the above, but @zifk@sh.itjust.works correctly pointed out I’d got my units wrong… and then they got their units wrong replying. And that’s why we need good journalism who can actually look into this fucking stuff properly, and give reasoned responses!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
TOKYO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Japan said on Tuesday it will start releasing more than 1 million metric tonnes of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Aug. 24, putting into motion a plan that has drawn strong criticism from China.
The plan, approved two years ago by the Japanese government as crucial to decommissioning the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) (9501.T), has also faced criticism from local fishing groups, who fear reputational damage and a threat to their livelihood.
“I promise that we will take on the entire responsibility of ensuring the fishing industry can continue to make their living, even if that will take decades,” Kishida said on Monday.
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in July that Japan had shown selfishness and arrogance, and had not fully consulted the international community about the water release.
South Korean activists have also protested the plan, although Seoul has concluded from its own study that the water release meets international standards and said it respects the IAEA’s assessment.
The water was used to cool the fuel rods of Fukushima Daiichi after it melted down in an accident caused by a huge tsunami in 2011 that battered Japan’s eastern coast.
The original article contains 552 words, the summary contains 206 words. Saved 63%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
I know just enough about radioactivity to know that I don’t know enough about radioactivity to form an opinion on this.
Will there be enough radiation to actually fuck anything up? Or is this just a scary headline sensationalizing something that’s actually benign?
That water will contain about 190 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organisation drinking limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre, according to Tepco. A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity.
TIL what a becquerel is
They have to be doing this because of storage and safety costs.
Doesn’t tritium have a half-life of about 12.3 years? If they delayed the release until, say, after approximately 12 more years, surely half of the tritium in a given sample will have decayed.
The biggest issue with these topics is the lack of trust toward the scientists, or even forgetting that there are any scientists working on the project. It’s not as if the prime minister woke up to the idea of dumping nuclear waste into the ocean
Fuck humans. We deserve climate change and all the hell that comes with it.
Here’s a hot take: fuck Japan and any country that does this kind of shit. Will it dilute? Yes. Does that make it safe? Absolutely not!
Build better nuclear power plants, ffs, or dump the toxins in Tokyo. Keep the bullshit on your soil.
Edit: 25 people think radiation is gonna give them superpowers or something. Why am I being downvoted for being against countries that pollute? Yes, there are worse ones than Japan, but come on, you tools. No one is in the right when they do that shit.
