The Japanese government has a plan to get their radioactive water out of the Fukushima nuclear plant, and many won’t like it. Since their cleanup operation requires storing tons of the contaminated water in giant tanks, there’s only so much space they can actually use before being overloaded. So, they might simply throw it into the ocean instead.
Eight years in the making
Nothing has been decided, according to Japanese officials, but dumping radioactive water into the ocean is unfortunately a real possibility.
The plan comes eight years after a devastating earthquake and tsunami caused massive damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, leading to three core meltdowns and as many hydrogen explosions. It was the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
Digital Globe
Not enough storage room
In order to deal with the resulting radiation waste, the Japanese government began a decade-long operation to clean up the area. This means pumping 200 tons of radioactive water out of the reactor buildings every single day, which has been going on for the last eight years.
Through intricate filtration processes, most of the radioactive isotopes have been removed from the water—except for one, tritium, which current technology can’t filter. So, authorities have needed to store the water in a set of gigantic tanks in order to prevent further contamination.
The problem is that these tanks will be completely filled by 2022—far sooner than it would take to get all the water out of the plant. Japanese officials have long considered simply throwing the rest out into the ocean, and now Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada is supporting the plan, according to BBC News.
IAEA Imagebank
Though many fishermen in the area are emphatically opposed (and who could blame them), several scientists say dumping the water would actually pose a low environmental risk. Still, it most certainly doesn’t sound great, does it?
(Cover photo by IAEA Imagebank)
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