Nuclear wastewater into Pacific Ocean

The ocean is not just our playground, it is our source of life. A vibrant ocean secures the future, and a heightened awareness today of past misdeeds seeks to improve upon that outlook.

Yet, there remain limits.

At Scuttlebutt HQ, the City discharges over 150 million gallons of partially treated wastewater each day into the Pacific Ocean through a deep ocean outfall several miles off the coast. Biological and chemical processes put their blessing on the water used in homes and businesses before serving it to the sea life.

That seems nasty, yet less worrisome that what is reported by New Zealand’s STUFF media:


Japan says it is adopting a revised action plan on the release of treated, but still radioactive, wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean this year.

In April 2021, the government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), announced a plan to release more than 1 million tonnes of water stored in tanks at Fukushima later this year.

The move has met fierce opposition from Pacific and world leaders, fishermen and activists over contamination fears.

In March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, leaving close to 16,000 people dead.

Four reactors at Fukushima were shut down after a meltdown released large amounts of radiation. Water used to cool the damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, has since leaked into the basements of the reactor buildings and has been collected, treated and stored in tanks.

Fukushima has not been in operation since 2011 and, in July 2019, a decision to decommission the nuclear plant was made.

The Japanese government says the stored water at Fukushima is hampering the plant’s decommissioning process, and risks leaking if amajor earthquake or tsunami struck.

Under the current plan, TEPCO will transport the treated water through a pipeline from the tanks to a coastal facility where it will be diluted with seawater and sent through an undersea tunnel, currently under construction, to an offshore outlet. – Full report

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