Short answer #
The wastewater from Fukushima is not contaminated. It contains a small amount of tritium and carbon-14.
Tritium is a weakly radioactive form of hydrogen found naturally in the environment, including the atmosphere. The water at Fukushima contains less than 3 grams of tritium, and over the next 40 years, approximately 0.06 grams will be released into the sea.
In perspective, cosmic radiation generates 150-200 grams of tritium, the same amount as in Fukushima’s water, in less than 3 hours. Tritium naturally falls as precipitation and is part of the water cycle. The Pacific Ocean already contains 8.4 kilograms of tritium.
The World Health Organization’s limit for tritium in drinking water is 7 times higher than the tritium levels in the Fukushima water. In fact, drinking 3.8 liters of Fukushima water is less radioactive than eating a banana.
Carbon-14 is another component found in the Fukushima tanks, but it is also naturally formed in the atmosphere. Nature produces 5100 grams of carbon-14 annually, equivalent to 14 grams per day. The 0.4 grams of carbon-14 in the Fukushima tanks correspond to only 40 minutes of cosmic radiation generation.
Overall, the Fukushima water is harmless, as nature produces much higher amounts of tritium and carbon-14 every day. Tritium and carbon-14 account for only 0.08% of the ocean’s radioactivity, with the majority coming from other natural sources like potassium-40, rubidium-40, and uranium.
Where does the Fukushima water come from #
After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in March 2011, water has been essential to cool the molten fuel and waste. The water here was contaminated by contact.
The water is treated with the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) method, which removes problematic isotopes such as cesium-137, strontium-90 and iodine-129 through pumps, filters and chemical reactions. Repeated ALPS treatment minimizes radioactivity [1].
The remaining elements in the water consist of tritium and carbon-14. Together, it is just under 900 Tera Bq (TBq) [2]. Existing technologies are not suitable for removing low-concentration tritium from the water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
What is Tritium #
Tritium is a naturally occurring isotope of hydrogen. This means that water with tritium in it is chemically similar to normal water. Water with tritium is just water that is mildly radioactive. It forms naturally all the time in the earth’s atmosphere and is part of life.
Tritium water in the tanks #
The total amount of tritium in the water at Fukushima is less than 3 grams [3]. The Japanese authorities plan to gradually release about 0.06 grams of tritium into the sea over the next 40 years [4]. This will change tritium levels in the Pacific Ocean by less than 0.001% annually.
Tritium in context. #
Cosmic radiation in the atmosphere naturally forms annually 150-200 grams of tritium (50-70 PBq). In less than 3 hours, the same amount of tritium is formed as is released in the Fukushima water during an entire year [5].
It falls as precipitation and forms part of the water cycle. Thus, the Pacific Ocean naturally contains 8.4 kilograms or 3,000 peta-becquerels (PBq) of tritium [6].
Tritium is also found in our drinking water, where the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a limit value of 10,000 Bq/L, which is 7 times higher than the level in the Fukushima water [7]. Drinking 3.8 liters of Fukushima water will thus also be less radioactive than eating a banana.
So in short, you could drink the Fukushima water and not experience adverse effects from it. It is, effectively, drinking water [8].
The tritium-containing water from Fukushima is what you call a drop in the ocean.
Is tritium a risk to humans? #
The short answer is no. Tritium is one of the least harmful radioactive elements available. Tritiated water has a biological half-life of approx. 10 days in the human body. It emits weak beta particles which can penetrate about 6.0 mm of air, but not into the body through human skin unless ingested in very large quantities.
Ultimately, it is impossible to get a significant radiation dose from tritium, unlike any other radionuclide. It leaves the body and is diluted too quickly. No negative health effects have ever been observed in humans due to ingested tritium [9].
Is tritium a problem for marine biology? #
Tritium has a much shorter biological half-life in fish and marine life than in humans, less than 2 days. It is diluted in the food chain rather than concentrated upwards, meaning that there is no significant dose that can reach back to humans.
Eating Fukushima fish caught within a few kilometers of the sewage in one’s lifetime is equivalent to 0.02 microsievert. This is less than the amount of radiation found in a banana, which is equivalent to 0.1 microsievert [10].
What about carbon-14 #
The waste water also contains some carbon-14. Greenpeace says the tanks contain 63.6 giga-Becquerel (GBq) and claims this can harm animals and people. That does not sound nice.
Carbon-14 content in tanks #
63.6 giga-Becquerel (GBq) undeniably sounds like a lot. But together, the 1,230,000 tons of water in the tanks contain about 0.4 grams of carbon-14.
Carbon-14 in context #
Carbon-14 is formed naturally in the earth’s atmosphere continuously. Nature produces 5100 grams of carbon-14 annually, corresponding to 14 grams per day [11]. It is taken up by plants and transferred in the food chain, which means that all living organisms, including humans, contain carbon-14. See the figure below.
The 0.4 grams of carbon-14 in the Fukushima tanks corresponds to the amount of cosmic radiation in the outermost layer of the atmosphere of approx. 40 minutes.
The Fukushima water thus contains only one extra gram of carbon-14. This shoots Greenpeace’s claim to the ground. With that logic, according to Greenpeace, we should fear something as natural as the human body.
The big overview #
Together, tritium and carbon-14 contribute only 0.08% of the ocean’s radioactivity. The major sources of radioactivity are from other sources: 91% from potassium-40, 8.6% from rubidium-40 and 0.3% from uranium [12]. These naturally occurring elements have always been in the ocean and are older than the Earth itself.
Controlled discharge into the sea #
In April 2021, the Japanese government issued a basic policy for the disposal of ALPS-treated water through controlled discharge into the sea [13]. It is performed in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety standards and requirements [14].
The IAEA reviews the management of the ALPS-treated water at Fukushima Daiichi by conducting independent monitoring and sampling to ensure compliance with IAEA safety standards. The review will continue for many years with ongoing monitoring activities.
So that’s actually the best way to handle it.
Why the panic #
The problems are thus not the water itself, which is harmless. But that the majority of the population is not informed. Which has not been done better by environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, which has proven to spread misinformation and the media also share the myths uncritically.
As is typical problem is the mainstream news reporting about anything nuclear-related, journalists around the world have also been whipping up panic, going so far as to act as though another tsunami is about to take place.
Geopolitical power plays #
China and Japan have had a fractious relationship for a long time, and it is not uncommon for Chinese people to call for bans on Japanese products when the opportunity arises.
China has 51 operational nuclear reactors and 21 more under construction. In 2021, 13 nuclear power plants in China released more tritium into the ocean than the annual total Fukushima water release will [15]. According to Chinese data, the Qinshan power plant in the Zhejiang Province released 218 trillion becquerels of tritium in 2021, which is about ten times the maximum amount of tritium to be discharged from the Fukushima Daiichi plant in a year. China’s nuclear power plants release water with much higher levels of tritium than the Fukushima water, and yet there is no global panic about the country doing so.
Antinuclear capitalization #
Keen not to miss the opportunity to spread the usual misinformation about nuclear energy, Greenpeace and other anti-nuclear groups has also been active in stirring up drama about the water release [16]. In line with their 1991 policy of misusing the next accident to to kill nuclear [17].
Articles worth reading about the Fukushima wastewater #
As Japan Moves to Release Fukushima Wastewater into the Ocean, Questions Persist. By Nigel Marks, Wang Ming, Robert Richmond: 13 Apr 2023.
Protest! Boycott! Panic! There’s tritium in the water!! By Zion Lights: 2 Sep 2023
Sources #
- Frequently Asked Questions: Fukushima Daiichi Treated Water Release | IAEA
- https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6504/621
- https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.abc1507
- Japan plans to release Fukushima’s wastewater into the ocean | Science | AAAS
- https://en.irsn.fr/EN/Research/publications-documentation/radionuclides-sheets/environment/Pages/Tritium-environment.aspx
- https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02336283
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23987221/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66610977
- https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44584/9789241548151_eng.pdf
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X21010031?via%3Dihub
- https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066921
- Radionuclides in the Ocean – seawater, sea, depth, oceans, temperature, important, types, system, source (waterencyclopedia.com)
- https://www.meti.go.jp/english/e
- https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/PUB1818_web.pdf
- Fukushima: China retaliates as Japan releases treated nuclear water – BBC News
- Japan announces date for Fukushima radioactive water release – Greenpeace International
- Anti nuclear movement strategy circa April 1991 – Atomic Insights
