Why does Japan discharge nuclear waste water?

Reasons for the discharge of nuclear waste water in Japan: 2011After the Fukushima nuclear accident in March, it was necessary to continuously inject cooling water to cool the core that was still releasing decay heat. Tokyo Electric Power Company has built 1044 water storage tanks in the nuclear power plant area, with a water storage capacity of over1230,000 tons. This means that by September 2022, the capacity of sewage storage tanks will soon reach the upper limit, and nuclear sewage will have nowhere to store.

Nuclear sewage refers to radioactive wastewater produced by nuclear facilities such as nuclear power plants. Normal nuclear power plants also have nuclear sewage, which comes from controllable leakage, uncontrollable leakage and regular cleaning of equipment. The usual treatment method is to turn radioactive waste liquid into radioactive waste solid and dischargeable water, and send it to landfill together with other nuclear wastes. Dischargeable water can only be discharged into the sea if it meets the discharge standards set by the International Energy Agency and the domestic government.

Influence of nuclear sewage discharged into the sea

The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company claim that all radioactive substances except tritium in the nuclear sewage purified by multi-nuclide removal device (ALPS) have reached the discharge standard. However, this statement has not been recognized and trusted by the international community.

Tritium itself is a harmful radioactive substance with a half-life of 12.3 years. Even after dilution, its radiation hazard cannot be eliminated. Tritium can enter the human body through the food chain and combine with human tissues, causing radiation damage to the human body.

If nuclear sewage is discharged into the ocean, the organisms in the ocean will inevitably absorb the discharged nuclear sewage, and the radioactive substances in it may enter the human body through the food chain and accumulate after biological enrichment.