Why do Japan ministers insist on dumping the Fukushima Daiichi radioactive cooling water right into the Pacific Ocean?

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As titled, this came up while I was discussing with my family and I cannot come up with a reason as to why they “have” to dump it in the ocean, as opposed to keeping said contaminated water in tanks underground until decade’s or centuries later when the contamination is negligible, with a big sign on top saying “DO NOT TOUCH UNTIL -“. Dumping it in the ocean risks contamination as well as directly impacting their exports and relationships with nearby countries, as well as possible irreversible effects on the ocean eco-system.

So why? What am I missing?

In: Earth Science

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s water, with very little radioactive hydrogen. If they cut it 10-to-1 with other water, it’d pass the standard for drinking water in Japan.

It doesn’t really risk contamination of the ocean — it’s just a PR problem. The ocean’s already got far, far more tritium in it, as well as other radioactive elements.

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