Japan Nuke Plant Operator to Dump Radioactive Water Into Ocean

The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant said Monday it planned to dump thousands of tons of radioactive water into the Pacific, as the government was accused of covering up the extent of radiation levels.

"We have no choice but to release water tainted with radioactive materials into the ocean as a safety measure," Yukio Edano, the government’s chief spokesman told a new conference.

Over the weekend, an 8-inch-long crack was discovered in a maintenance pit, sending a stream of water into the sea. The area is normally blocked off by a seawall, but a crack was also discovered in that outer barrier Monday.

While radioactivity is quickly diluted in the ocean, a government spokesman said Monday that the sheer volume of contamination is becoming a concern.

"Even if they say the contamination will be diluted in the ocean, the longer this continues, the more radioactive particles will be released and the greater the impact on the ocean," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. "We are strongly urging TEPCO that they have to take immediate action to deal with this."





www.foxnews.com...

when is there going to be some good news from fukashima?? surely there is a way to put a stop to it.... this will go down as the worst natural disaster ever in near future. if indeed it was all natural?

You do realize, if they dump all that radioactive waste into the ocean... most of the planet as we know it... is, like, ###ked, right?

reply to post by csinvis


So does anyone here have a backround in Radiation poisoning or research into that field. Can anyone expound on the implications of 11,500 tons of highly radioactive water being dumped into the ocean also considering the unknown amount already leaked into the ocean? Will this have a large affect on the ocean in the region around Japan or will it have a more global effect.

How can they just decide to purposely dump those radioactive water into the ocean?! I mean if it is leaking and out of their control is one thing, but doing it on purpose is another thing. Why can't they transport or quickly build something huge there to hold the water? Does this mean no seafood forever??

reply to post by milocrab


Eating radioactive sushi sounds good!

i just posted the following comment in a mirror thread to this one...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

i think people like to forget how much radioactivity already has been released in the pacific ocean, think bikini atoll.

As part of the Pacific Proving Grounds it was the site of more than 20 nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958.

en.wikipedia.org...


also i would like to put into context the gallonage of radioactive seawater vs. the entire pacific ocean so we may assess the comparison . 2000 lbs. to a ton, 11,500 tons, equals 23,000,000 lbs; a lbs. of seawater weighs approximatively 7.5 lbs per gallon, so about 3,066,666 gallons.

wiki.answers.com...

the entire pacific ocean is 187,189,915,062,857,142,857 gallons

wiki.answers.com...

reply to post by bladdersweat


Thing is thats nothing compared to this nuclear crisis going on in Japan there are reports that the MOX storage rods if breached or compromised contain as much radiation as 70,000-90,000 Hiroshima/Nagasaki's' going off ; Thats per reactor too and there is 6 of them.

If i had the links i would post them but i don't.

It's all very interesting and so .....but I see far to much FoxNews on ATS. Isn't that the Teaparty, rightwing, fear mongering TV Station of America? Are you all with Palin and the other sickos?

reply to post by XRaDiiX


interesting, no links to support this claim, huh. well i googled the numbers '70,000-90,000; nagasaki; hiroshima'
and this info popped up

... Harry Truman announces the successful bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb ... on the city of Nagasaki, Japan killing an estimated 70000-90000 people.

en.wikipedia.org...:War/Selected_anniversaries/August

so i thought that was an interesting context to your comment

and XRaDiiX, i gather that you know the general consensus here on ATS is 'no links, then it is just hearsay, it never happened' and i highly doubt you claim that

thats nothing compared to this nuclear crisis going on in Japan

reply to post by bladdersweat


That's 3 million gallons on top of however much has already been released, plus however much more will be released. Remember, we heard catastrophic fear mongering from people when 200 million or so gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico...the currents will stop, etc. I think we all agree that radioactive water is much, much worse than an oil spill. I wouldn't be surprised to find that at least 10 million gallons will have been released by the time all is said and done. Why are we not hearing the same level of outrage about this? The media keeps spinning this as tons of water, rather than the equivalent # of gallons. There's no way this won't have a huge impact on ocean life immediately off the coast of Japan for decades.

reply to post by peter_kandra


i am currently looking into research regarding the radioactive effects of the 20 nuclear tests conducted at bikini atoll, as this will be the largest assessment and have the most historical data.

Originally posted by peter_kandra
reply to post by bladdersweat

 

There's no way this won't have a huge impact on ocean life immediately off the coast of Japan for decades.

maybe its about time that the Japanese stop eating whales and dolphins...

Japan believed to be quitting whaling season early

www.smh.com.au...

They are stating a number so that is what can be referenced as far as what was dumped and not "leaked". Soon, no one will hear the word leaked but dumped. Just like the BP oil spill.

Originally posted by bladdersweat

Originally posted by peter_kandra
reply to post by bladdersweat

 

There's no way this won't have a huge impact on ocean life immediately off the coast of Japan for decades.

maybe its about time that the Japanese stop eating whales and dolphins...

Japan believed to be quitting whaling season early

www.smh.com.au...

Yeah. Good thing I don't like sushi, although my wife does. The problem is that everything in the ocean food chain will be impacted.

Originally posted by milocrab
How can they just decide to purposely dump those radioactive water into the ocean?! I mean if it is leaking and out of their control is one thing, but doing it on purpose is another thing. Why can't they transport or quickly build something huge there to hold the water? Does this mean no seafood forever??

That's what I was thinking...get a containment unit. I don't see how they could possibly be ALLOWED to just dump radioactive water back into the ocean without someone stepping in and saying that there's no way this is an option.

it was pointed out to me that the fall out effects are vastly different in the nuclear detonations that i posted as most of the energy is released as gamma, alpha, and beta wave radiation and that the fallout footprint is much smaller and for less duration.

this may bring many personal attacks on me, but i am thinking out loud that maybe a new nuclear detonation on japan at the fukushima complex would vaporize our problems, then we would only need to deal with lower levels of fallout. after the area has been completely evacuated beforehand for like a hundred mile radius, then quarantine the area for the specified time period for the radiation effects to wear off.

reply to post by bladdersweat


I think experts have agreed that would be a bad idea

reply to post by bladdersweat


The numbers 70,000-90,000 was posted by someone in the longest thread on the japan disaster here on ATS you can take the time to find it yourself i told you i did not have links to the numbers about the radiation from the MOX fuel rods so don't blatantly label those numbers of something totally unrelated to what i was mentioning because that has nothing to do with what i was talking about!

Originally posted by onyx718
That's what I was thinking...get a containment unit. I don't see how they could possibly be ALLOWED to just dump radioactive water back into the ocean without someone stepping in and saying that there's no way this is an option.

You have to understand that NO-ONE is prepared to jump in here and tell the Japanese what to do or what not to do. To do so would be tatamount to "involving" themselves, which means that they would then assume some responsiblity in the situation. This is the reason why you see limited to no response from the UN and other world leaders. This is one HOT potato, and it`s no surprise there are a distinct lack of volunteers in line to handle it.

I would imagine that as soon as this unfolded, certain high ranking parties would have been briefed on the potential consequences. The first question on anyones lips would be "what are they doing about it?" Reply: "Well, there`s nothing that can be done in a practical sense, not in the short term anyway."
"Hmmm."

So what are you expecting anyone else to do about this? If Obama himself flew out there in Airforce One, he would be as powerless as the TEPCO workers to stop this farcical tragedy which continues to unfold with each passing day. No-one will intervene, because the don`t have the answers any more than the Japanese do and moreover, they don`t want to be seen to be involved in the handling - or MIShandling - of what they already know is undoubtedly going to become the worst disaster in the history of mankind.