[07.10]来自福岛的恐慌
发表于 ： 2023年 7月 10日 06:37
Fear in Fukushima
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newslett ... =prognosis ｜ By Michelle Fay Cortez ｜ 10 July 2023 at 12:00 CEST
Japan’s planned release of treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean has got many people concerned, despite assurances around its safety. The fact that it’s still radioactive, if only slightly, explains why.
A dozen years ago, the world watched in horror as Japanese residents fled for their lives as a tsunami, unleashed by the country’s strongest ever earthquake, engulfed parts of the coast.
The disaster killed thousands and swept away entire towns. It also resulted in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl when a 15-meter wall of water damaged the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, leaving the reactor’s fuel rods unable to cool and spewing radiation into the air.
It sparked panic across the world as people thousands of miles away scrambled to line up protection from the anticipated radiation exposure.
The worst-case scenario of an evacuation of Tokyo never came to pass. And scientists concluded that radiation from the March 2011 incident didn’t lead to deaths and wouldn’t cause widespread damage to human health.
But the fallout has continued to reverberate and Fukushima is once again making headlines. Japanese utility Tepco is preparing to release more than 1 million cubic meters — enough to fill 500 Olympic-size swimming pools — of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean as early as this summer on forecasts storage tanks will hit capacity early in 2024.
Blue crabs on display for sale at a fish market in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg
At the heart of the issue is the presence of tritium, a radionuclide that can’t be fully removed because it’s a component of water molecules. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Tepco’s proposal to dilute the contaminated water before its release is in line with global safety standards. And most nuclear power plants routinely discharge small amounts of diluted radioactive material in closely monitored releases.
Even so, the plan has drawn the ire of some of Japan’s biggest trading partners who say they’re concerned about food safety.
Read more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newslett ... =prognosis ｜ By Michelle Fay Cortez ｜ 10 July 2023 at 12:00 CEST
Japan’s planned release of treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean has got many people concerned, despite assurances around its safety. The fact that it’s still radioactive, if only slightly, explains why.
A dozen years ago, the world watched in horror as Japanese residents fled for their lives as a tsunami, unleashed by the country’s strongest ever earthquake, engulfed parts of the coast.
The disaster killed thousands and swept away entire towns. It also resulted in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl when a 15-meter wall of water damaged the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, leaving the reactor’s fuel rods unable to cool and spewing radiation into the air.
It sparked panic across the world as people thousands of miles away scrambled to line up protection from the anticipated radiation exposure.
The worst-case scenario of an evacuation of Tokyo never came to pass. And scientists concluded that radiation from the March 2011 incident didn’t lead to deaths and wouldn’t cause widespread damage to human health.
But the fallout has continued to reverberate and Fukushima is once again making headlines. Japanese utility Tepco is preparing to release more than 1 million cubic meters — enough to fill 500 Olympic-size swimming pools — of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean as early as this summer on forecasts storage tanks will hit capacity early in 2024.
Blue crabs on display for sale at a fish market in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg
At the heart of the issue is the presence of tritium, a radionuclide that can’t be fully removed because it’s a component of water molecules. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Tepco’s proposal to dilute the contaminated water before its release is in line with global safety standards. And most nuclear power plants routinely discharge small amounts of diluted radioactive material in closely monitored releases.
Even so, the plan has drawn the ire of some of Japan’s biggest trading partners who say they’re concerned about food safety.
Read more:
- Seafood to Beauty Exports at Risk Over Japan’s Fukushima Waste
- [NIKKEI Asia] Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant set to release treated water