Japan’s Plans With Nuclear Power Plant Wastewater

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (not even in operation– it was the victim of a nuclear accident due to a tsunami in 2011) has accumulated wastewater- and lots of it. Japan plans to dump this contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean. Why did this nuclear plant accumulate so much wastewater? What does this contaminated water consist of and what impacts will Japan’s actions have on the Pacific Ocean?

To begin, what exactly led to a buildup of wastewater in this plant? Well, in general, nuclear power plants require an insane amount of water– in larger plants, up to 1 billion gallons of water a day. This water is used to cool radioactive cores (where the nuclear reactions actually occur; therefore, the part that generates the heat). In this process, the water becomes contaminated with radionuclides (a chemical element that releases radiation). This contaminated water is filtered and, once deemed safe, dumped into bodies of water, usually oceans. However, in Fukushima’s case, the radioactive cores are still hot after the Tsunami in 2011. Officials have used hundreds of millions of gallons of water in an attempt to cool these reactors, and it resulted in water even more contaminated than before. Typically, waste water is stored in large water storage tanks.

Why do they need to get rid of the water? According to the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, “the storage tanks take up too much space and hinder decommissioning the plant.”

Next, what does this water consist of? As mentioned before, the water is contaminated due to radionuclides that it comes in contact with during the cooling process. This water also can contain tritium, which is another radioactive element.

Finally, what are the environmental impacts of Japan’s actions? It’s important to note that scientists don’t know for certain the impacts of releasing (filtered) radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. They can only make very likely predictions, such as research suggesting organisms’ DNA will be damaged and altered with this water. In addition, fish is a huge industry in Japan. Worry about the safety hazards involved with consuming food found in radioactive water (although diluted and filtered) is certainly present. These are the main environmental impacts- there are more, such as the concern for genetic mutations in humans.