{"id":150689,"date":"2019-12-30T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=150689"},"modified":"2019-12-28T10:05:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T10:05:22","slug":"japans-radioactive-water-will-be-released-into-ocean-or-atmosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/12\/japans-radioactive-water-will-be-released-into-ocean-or-atmosphere\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s Radioactive Water Will Be Released into Ocean or Atmosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019.
REUTERS\/Issei Kato\/Files<\/p><\/div>\n

27 Dec 2019 – <\/em>Officials overseeing the crumbled remains of Japan\u2019s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant have a growing problem: they\u2019re\u00a0running out of space to store its radioactive water<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In September, Japan said it might be forced to\u00a0dump the contaminated water<\/a> into the ocean. That is quickly becoming more likely, as Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh <\/em>now reports<\/a> that the only options on the table are dumping the water, evaporating it so it enters the atmosphere, or a combination of both.<\/p>\n

Damage Control<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Japanese government is trying to downplay the potential environmental impact of an ocean dump, carefully referring to the radioactive water as \u201cprocessed,\u201d according to The Hankyoreh<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But nuclear energy experts have warned for months<\/a> that dumping the water is too dangerous \u2014 suggesting that the government is pursuing the quick and easy solution rather than the safest or least harmful.<\/p>\n

Big Splash<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, those warnings may be ignored.<\/p>\n

The government recently announced that it had ruled out other methods of containing the water, such as underground storage. And according to The<\/em> Hankyoreh<\/em>, the announcement indicates that the nation is currently leaning toward an ocean dump over a steam release.<\/p>\n

That means unless it comes up with a better \u2014 or easier \u2014 plan, Japan will be dumping 1.7 million tons of contaminated water into the Pacific in the not-so-distant future.<\/p>\n

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