By Justine Papaleo [‘27]
Japanese workers have begun releasing radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The power plant was destroyed in 2011 during the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and unfortunately, the water has been increasing since.
Around an hour after the Tōhoku earthquake and Tsunami, several reactors melted down at the nuclear power plant. In the attempt to prevent any future damage, the workers flooded the reactors with water, which quickly became highly contaminated. The plant is currently offline and reactors are now disused but still need to be left to cool, which is why the waste water continues to multiply. In the years following the accident, groundwater has filtered into the site leading even more water to become contaminated.
Managing all of the radioactive waste has proven a huge technical challenge for Japan's government. Currently about 350 million gallons are being stored in more than 1,000 tanks on site. According to Japan’s government, the tanks are nearing max capacity, which is why the water needs to be distributed.
Although the government has been working on an advanced filtration system to remove most of the “radioactive isotopes” from the water known as ALPS or the Advanced Liquid Processing System,they are finding it very difficult to create a system that works effectively. Unfortunately, the isotope that is infecting the water at the Fukushima power plant is called tritium, a rare radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The hydrogen is a part of the water; therefore, it is impossible for it to be filtered out.
However, they have to start acting now before things get even worse, so the first release of 7,800 tons of treated water is expected to take 17 days. Japanese fisheries have agreed to keep track of the radioactive levels in the ocean and IAEA has also made the same agreement.
By weakening the toxic water with salt water to lessen the tritium levels, the Japanese government will be completing the first step in their plan.