Japan has told its citizens living in China to keep a low profile, including talking quietly in public, after Beijing blasted Tokyo for releasing treated radioactive water from a wrecked nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Japan has told its citizens living in China to keep a low profile, including talking quietly in public, after Beijing blasted Tokyo for releasing treated radioactive water from a wrecked nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

  • chaorace@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    27·
    10 months ago

    Some cliff notes for those wondering what the fuss is about:

    • In 2011, three nuclear reactors in Fukushima went into meltdown and released radioactive contamination into the environment, including oceanwater
    • The facilities remain flooded with a volume of contaminated water that has been described as “500 Olympic-sized pools”
    • As part of the ongoing effort to clean up Fukushima, Japan wants to eventually remove all of the remaining contaminated water
    • Japan’s plan to do this involves reducing the radioactivity of the water using a filtration process known as ALPS while staging out water releases over a period of 30 years
    • The main remaining contaminant in the water following ALPS filtration is expected to be Tritium, which samples show as existing within the threshold that is considered safe for human consumption.
    • This plan was approved by the UN after determining that the radiological impact would be “negligible”
    • China and South Korea both oppose the plan. Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the the Chinese Foreign Ministry was quoted calling the plan “extremely selfish and irresponsible” and stated that “The ocean is humanity’s common good, not Japan’s private sewer”
    • Concerns over Tritium release have been criticized, as other active reactors in the region are known to release similar levels of the substance into the ocean (e.g.: those at the Yangjiang nuclear plant), though it is also worth noting that this criticism hinges upon the assumption that the ALPS filtration process will be as reliable as early results suggest. It requires trusting that Japan will be completely diligent in overseeing their filtration efforts so that radioactive Cesium is not released into oceanwater.
    • Cavemanfreak@lemm.ee
      393·
      10 months ago

      Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the the Chinese Foreign Ministry was quoted calling the plan “extremely selfish and irresponsible” and stated that “The ocean is humanity’s common good, not Japan’s private sewer”

      That’s rich, coming from China.

      • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
        132·
        10 months ago

        Yeah they launched a bunch of rockets at the ocean not that long ago so they can’t like it that much.

        Fuck the CCP

      • zephyreks@programming.dev
        416·
        10 months ago

        When has China dumped radioactive waste with high levels of Strontium-90 and Carbon-14 into the ocean?

        • bitsplease
          17·
          10 months ago

          Except the waste water doesn’t actually have high levels of either of those, as it’s been diluted well below the safe minimums before release

          Theres no actual science to back up the fears about their handling of this - just your standard “nuclear = bad and scary”

          Wait till you guys find out about bananas

    • Zoidsberg@lemmy.ca
      15·
      10 months ago

      500 Olympic-sized pools

      Why do people use football fields and swimming pools as units of measurement.

      • magnetosphere@kbin.social
        42·
        10 months ago

        I assume it’s to help people visualize volume/distance/size/etc. If an article said “50,000 gallons”, it would be much more precise, but also harder to relate to. When an article says “500 Olympic-sized pools”, it’s significantly easier to picture in my mind.

        It’s also worth remembering that this is a newspaper intended for the casual edification of the general public, not a scientific document.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      5·
      10 months ago

      Tritium is useful as fuck, but I’m guessing there’s no way to harvest that for use if it’s the only thing remaining after it goes through The Alps?

      • zephyreks@programming.dev
        52·
        10 months ago

        ALPS isn’t perfect and Tepco has a track record of cutting corners. I’m rather skeptical about Tepco’s ability to do this properly.