"TEPCO began dumping contaminated water at 1pm Thursday (Japan time). International opposition and outcry have not been resolved. We document that along with the scope of the contamination here. While TEPCO has insisted the water only contains Tritium that is untrue. The long list of other contaminants can be found here [link in comments]."
"The press have repeated a statement initially peddled by #TEPCO, that this contaminated water only includes #tritium. This is untrue, and tritium is not without its own risks. The water being discussed has been through the various filtration systems on site used to remove #radioactive#isotopes. Each system removes some of the radioactive elements in the water. ALPS is the last of these systems. It can remove much of the remaining contamination but not all of it, some radioactive contamination remains in this water.
"We [SimplyInfo] documented back in 2018 that this water contains other problematic radioactive elements including:
"As of 2018 the stored post ALPS water contained 200 billion becquerels of iodine 129, #ruthenium 106, and technetium 99. As stored water increases, so does the total volume of contamination within that water.
"TEPCO and the Japanese government have tried to ease concerns by claiming the water will be diluted before it is dumped into the Pacific ocean. This is a meaningless step. The total amount of radioactive contamination is still dumped into the ocean, you just dumped some additional water beside it at the same time."
This from the hellbirdsite. I'll be looking for more details later today.
Yoko Akashi (@akashiyoko):
"#Kishida is meeting #Biden at the end of August before finalizing radioactive water dump from #Fukushima into the ocean. It seems like #Japan needs US approval to do this. We should pressure Biden not to approve it."
Some have cast doubt on the #IAEA’s findings, with China recently arguing that the group’s assessment “is not proof of the legality and legitimacy” of Fukushima’s wastewater release.
By Jessie Yeung, Mayumi Maruyama and Emiko Jozuka, July 5, 2023
"Robert H. Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of #Hawaii at Manoa, is among a group of international scientists working with the #PacificIslandForum to assess the wastewater release plan – including visits to the Fukushima site, and meetings with TEPCO, Japanese authorities and the IAEA. After reviewing the details of the plan, Richmond called it 'ill-advised' and premature.
"One concern is that diluting the wastewater might not be enough to reduce its impact on marine life. #Pollutants like tritium can pass through various levels of the #FoodChain – including plants, animals, and bacteria – and be '#bioaccumulated,' meaning they will build up in the marine #ecosystem, he said.
"He added that the world’s oceans are already under stress from #ClimateChange, ocean #acidification, #overfishing and #pollution. The last thing it needs is to be treated like a 'dumping ground,' he said.
"And the potential risks won’t just affect the #AsiaPacific region. One 2012 study found evidence that bluefin #tuna had transported #radionuclides – radioactive isotopes like the ones in #nuclear#wastewater – from Fukushima across the Pacific to California."