Twelve years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the only one other than the infamous Chernobyl accident to have ever received the maximum severity in the International Nuclear Event Scale. Now, Japan has announced to release wastewater into the ocean gradually to safely decommission the power plant. This has sparked outrage among environmentalist groups and widespread attention in the media.
The main issue in contention about Fukushima is the radioactive element called tritium, which can not be extracted from the water as there is no existing technology able to do so, but only diluted in water to minimize its effects. However, this process yields many debates among scientists about whether or not the outcomes will damage our environment. The University of Hawaii’s marine biologist Robert Richmond told the BBC: “We’ve seen an inadequate radiological, ecological impact assessment that
makes us very concerned that Japan would not only be unable to detect what’s getting into the water, sediment, and organisms but if it does, there is no recourse to remove it”. Organizations such as Green Peace also debate that if tritium is consumed, it can have “direct negative effects” on plants and animals.
Despite these arguments and overall backlash from the media, the overwhelming majority of experts agree that the release is safe. The International Atomic Energy Agency stationed in Fukushima stated that analysis showed the tritium concentration in water was far below their operational limit of 1,500 Bq/L (a measure of radioactivity). This pales in comparison to the World Health Organization’s limit for drinking water which is at around 10,000 Bq/L. James Smith, a professor of environmental and geological sciences at Portsmouth University, said that “in theory, you could drink this water” since the water has already been treated and then diluted. This could be seen when four of Japan’s top ministers including the prime minister ate Fukushima sashimi on the 30th of August this year, showing continuous faith in the scientific consensus that the treated water is safe.
All things considered, the wastewater released from Fukushima is seen as safe from a scientific perspective. Arguments against the release include: assuming the waste had not been as diluted in water as it has been, the current lack of technology to remove tritium from the ocean, and referencing China’s ban on seafood as evidence that the wastewater is dangerous (although it is widely seen as a political move by industry experts). Despite these, the water is considered safe for a variety of reasons including how the concentration of tritium in the “wastewater” is nearly irrelevant.
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