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

An inspection found that some water had leaked from cracks of about four centimeters on a hose being used for transferring radioactive wastewater

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

okay, so were they lying abt the water being “safe” to discharge? or did it concentrate by 12%+ in the past couple months?

TEPCO said that someone caused the cracks with a cutter blade while removing the packaging around the hose after it was delivered

great QC standards!

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

oh really? sure, release water that isnt safe even by the arbitrary standards your own government put in place. im sure the government will step in and stop this agony-minion

Despite strong opposition from neighboring and Pacific island 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

yea

  • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]M
    ·
    11 months ago

    My lukewarm take on this is that releasing all the wastewater probably wouldn't actually be all that bad for the environment once it all equlibrates out, the ocean is absolutely gigantic, but the psychological impact will be pretty notable for the local area and there's not really any great reasons not to just build more and more storage and keep filtering it and waiting for it to decay, but they're liberals and that's not profitable so that won't happen. I'm willing to be dunked on and proven wrong if this isn't the case

    • ZoomeristLeninist [comrade/them, she/her]M
      ·
      11 months ago

      i dont really have any evidence to counter ur take and it sounds reasonable. but diffusion takes time and the acute damage could be harmful (marine plants, animals, and bacteria in the area are irradiated for a few days and their populations could take a hit that has greater ecological effects; or fish from the area could cause harm via human consumption)

      • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]M
        ·
        11 months ago

        yeah, I would have to delve into all the scientific debate and modelling about it rather than the surface-level "China says it shouldn't happen" "Japan says it should" "Fishermen says it shouldn't"

      • iridaniotter [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        11 months ago

        IIRC it's first diluted to human-safe levels before it's then discharged and diluted to drinkable levels. Although you wouldn't drink it cause it's seawater.

  • iridaniotter [she/her, they/them]
    ·
    11 months ago

    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

    The discharge is supposed to be 1,500 Bq/L compared to the WHO drinking water standards of 10,000 Bq/L, so 67,000 Bq/L is worse than it seems here. But on the other hand, 67,000 Bq/L is not a disaster. Drinking 2 liters of it for a year would put you at about the same radiation dose as flight attendants. Anyway, this better get fixed soon.