Completely “negligible” consequences are expected for the health of people and the sea from the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant: this is what three experts from Australia and Great Britain claim in an article published in Science on the very day Japan plans to start spilling the second batch of 7,800 tons of water, a quantity equal to that of the first batch released starting from August 24th.
Experts Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth (Great Britain), Nigel Marks of Curtin University (Australia) and Tony Irwin of the Australian National University say that the amounts of radiation in the planned Fukushima spills are kept well below the limits of safety and are lower than wastewater releases from other nuclear plants around the world. Furthermore, expected annual radiation doses to local seafood consumers are lower in magnitude than exposure to natural radiation or other common radiation sources (such as medical X-ray equipment or long-distance commercial flights). As regards the environmental consequences, experts recall that “aquatic ecosystems are surprisingly resilient to radioactive pollution”, as demonstrated by studies conducted in lakes near Chernobyl, where the radiation dose is over a thousand times higher than that expected for Fukushima discharges.
“Radiation safety science is clear that the release of Fukushima wastewater, if carried out as planned, poses no real threat to Pacific Ocean organisms or consumers of Fukushima seafood,” the authors conclude. . “Any substantial deviation from release plans would be quickly noticed by monitoring. Governments and researchers in other countries are also expected to closely monitor radioactivity in the Pacific Ocean during the release,” which “will likely be the most closely monitored wastewater discharge from a nuclear site.”
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I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
