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Fukushima and the coming Tokyo Earthquake Logo
Water storage tanks at Fukushima Dai-ichi
22 Aug2019

Fukushima is running out of space to store its radioactive water

August 22, 2019. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

In just three years the Fukushima Dai-ichi site will have no more room to make the specialised tanks that are used store water that has been used to cool the melted reactors, or has seeped through the site from the surrounding hills. There’s currently over 1.15 million tons of this radioactive water being stored at the facility in 960 tanks and it’s continuing to accumulate at a rate of about 150 tons a day, meaning the tanks could reach full capacity by the summer of 2022.

TEPCO gas put forward a number of ideas to deal with this problem, including the evaporation of the water, injecting it deep underground, or the construction of more long-term storage tanks.

They have also floated the idea of gradually pumping the treated water into the Pacific Ocean. This is the option favored by the International Atomic Energy Agency and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, however, this is a hugely unpopular choice among local residents and fishermen.

Tepco installed equipment to pump out and decontaminate the water. But the treated water still contains tritium, a radioactive hydrogen isotope that also occurs in minute amounts in nature.

Tritium is the mildly radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has two neutrons and one proton, with radioactivity so low that no environmental or human problems have ever come from it, even though it is a common radioactive element in the environment. Tritium is formed naturally by atmospheric processes as well as in nuclear weapons testing and in nuclear power plants.

But with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo approaching, the government is worried about a potential blow to its international reputation by releasing the water into the sea. It appears to be dragging its feet on a decision.

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  • Update on progress in food and water safety in Fukushima
  • Japan to build new coal-burning power plants, despite the climate risks
  • Fukushima is running out of space to store its radioactive water
  • Fukushima gets it first surf shop since the 2011 meltdowns
  • Cancer rates at Fukushima as of March 2018
  • The Fukushima ice wall fails to keep out groundwater
  • Smashwords interview
  • Robots finally find the melted fuel cores
  • Hunters kill radioactive wild boars in Fukushima nuclear disaster zone
  • Cancer among workers at Fukushima Dai-ichi
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  • The world with over 1°C temperature rise
  • Radiation levels kill Tepco’s robots

Recent Comments

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    Tony Smyth

    July 16, 2017 | #

    Hey. Yes its just been finished. Hurrah. BUT I’m off to Europe tomorrow so will release it a few days after I get back. Probably round August 9th. A book launch needs many things coordinated to improve publicity and I can’t do that from Dublin/Berlin. Besides which I’ve been incredibly busy these last 10 weeks, not just physically but mentally. A well earned rest and many pints of Guiness sounds good to me. Thanks for the interest.

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    Jonathan L.

    July 16, 2017 | #

    Hello Tony, I’m kind of curious — any news about the editing on your book?

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    Tony Smyth

    April 27, 2017 | #

    Thanks Jonathan. Its been finished for a while, its just the guy doing the final conversion to ebook format is very busy, hence the delay. It will be out on Kindle first then on Smashwords. In print on Amazon a bit later.
    I’m already researching for the sequel to it which will basically argue that the current economic paradigm is broken and that major change is ahead, whether we like it or not. Provisional title is ‘Inverting the pyramid’ plus it will have some subhead which may come to me as I write it. We live in interesting times.

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    Jonathan L. Seagull

    April 27, 2017 | #

    Your book looks really interesting, I hope you release it on Kindle Unlimited!

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    GJS

    April 21, 2017 | #

    Blog up and running. Keep people informed, this stuff is real and a threat. Looking forward to the book as well.

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