[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/24/fukushima-fish-with-180-times-legal-limit-of-radioactive-cesium-fuels-water-release-fears](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/24/fukushima-fish-with-180-times-legal-limit-of-radioactive-cesium-fuels-water-release-fears)
What does this mean? Is it really safe for human to consume the fish with 180 times legal limit of radioactive cesium fuels water?
What is the radioactive cesium fuels water ?
In: 3
Well it certainly won’t be recommended to eat such fish. This highlights one of the core dilemmas.
By not diluting the contaminated water in the ocean and also not having a 100% foolproof way of disallowing wildlife like fish and birds into the area, the risk of having high concentrations in a few animals increases. Since cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years, it might take a few centuries before the radioactive contaminated water becomes relatively safe.
Diluting the contaminated water by releasing it into the ocean is fiercely opposed by many and yet may be the most practical solution. 1m tons of more radioactive water will fairly quickly be diluted into background radiation by the ocean (the ocean is a HUGE reservoir of water). So it becomes very unlikely that any fish will contain as high as 180x the legal limit. And that risk should fall off very quickly over time – just due to natural lifecycles.
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