Fukushima tritium levels higher than allowed

Fukushima_WaterStorageTanks

From the Korea Herald: A type of radioactive isotope in the over 1.3 million tons of wastewater being collected at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant and planned for discharge by as early as this summer has been found at levels beyond those earlier suggested to be safe by the Japanese government, a wastewater safety review report by the International Atomic Energy Agency showed Thursday.

The finding has raised the need to ensure the treated wastewater is diluted before it is discharged, so that the wastewater discharge might potentially be of little harm to neighboring countries including South Korea. (Ed note: tritium cannot be removed from water.)

According to the report, which corroborated analyses of the treated wastewater by six laboratories including the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the activity concentrations of tritium in the treated water were estimated to be at least 148,900 becquerels per liter.

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