‘Animals can get GUTTERED’ by the 1.3 million tons of radioactive waste dumped by Japan’s Pacific nuclear power plant

Japan on Thursday began dumping more than 1.3 million tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean — and an expert has warned it “has the potential to cause mutations like we saw at Chernobyl.”

The wastewater is currently being held at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which will soon be decommissioned and must be cleaned to prevent accidental spills.

The contaminated water has been filtered to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium and carbon-14, which are radioactive isotopes of hydrogen and carbon that cannot be easily removed from water

Timothy Mousseau, a researcher at the University of South Carolina, told DailyMai.com: Tritium and carbon-14, along with the other radionuclides (which cause cancer) that are released, all have the potential to cause mutations, cancers and developmental malformations. as seen in Chernobyl.”

In March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was destroyed after an earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt – the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Chernobyl, a power plant on the outskirts of Pripyat, suffered a major accident in which one of its reactors caught fire and exploded, spreading radioactive material into the surrounding area.

Since then, the exposed animals have developed deformities and genetic changes, and residents have been afflicted with cancer.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said when Fukushima experienced its meltdown, the organization collected the contaminated water as it cooled the wrecked reactors, along with groundwater and rain that seeped in.

The Japanese government started using the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) in 2013 to filter out the most harmful substances.

ALPS removes almost all toxic elements from the water, but is unable to filter out tritium.

TEPCO considers tritium harmless, but increases the risk of cancer if consumed in large amounts.

Moussea said: “There is no doubt that there will be some damage to the exposed organisms.”

To discharge the wastewater into the ocean, TEPOC built a mile-long subsea tunnel extending from the base of the nuclear power plant.

TEPCO pressed the tanks’ release button on Thursday to begin the dumping process, which is expected to take 40 years.

The filtration process will remove strontium-90 and iodine-129, and the concentration of carbon-14 in the contaminated water is much lower than the legal standard for discharge, according to TEPCO and Japanese government documents.

CARD NEEDS CAPTION ^^

However, a tritium content still remains in the water. STILL CONFUSED!

‘Unfortunately, there is currently no process that can remove tritium from contaminated water on an industrial scale,’ says Mousseau.

‘The only alternatives to dumping are: a) continuing to store it until natural radioactive decay reduces the concentrations to very low levels (50-100 years) or b) embedding it in a substrate (e.g. concrete) so that it cannot accumulate in the soil. ecosystem.’

Tritium is a colorless, odorless gas with a half-life of about 12 years.

And the form of hydrogen has been produced in large quantities by the nuclear military program.

It can enter the body through inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin, and it increases the risk of cancer if consumed in extremely high amounts.

“Based on our review of the literature, we have found that tritium, in any form, when ingested, ingested, or inhaled can cause genetic damage (i.e., increased mutation rates), cancer, developmental disorders, impaired fertility, or even infertility, and a shorter lifespan. Mousseau said.

‘At high doses, tritium can lead to death. At low doses, such effects are likely to escape detection due to the technical challenges of studying this isotope, but at higher doses, as could occur due to biomagnification, the effects may be significant and of major concern to apex predators (e.g. people ).’

The Japanese plan was given the green light by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), part of the United Nations, after a two-year safety review that concluded in July.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a foreword to the report: ‘Based on its comprehensive assessment, the IAEA has concluded that Japan’s approach and activities for the discharge of ALPS treated water are consistent with relevant international safety standards.

“In addition, the IAEA notes that the controlled, gradual discharge of the treated water into the sea, as currently planned and assessed by TEPCO, would have a negligible radiological impact on humans and the environment.”

Greenpeace said on Tuesday that the radiological risks have not yet been fully assessed and that the biological consequences of tritium, carbon-14, strontium-90 and iodine-129 – which are released with the water – are “ignored.”

DailyMail.com has contacted the IAEA and Greenpeace for comment.

TEPCO plans to release 8,598 tons of wastewater in the first round of the project, which will last 17 days.

The organization claims 34,392 tons should be released by March 2024, the equivalent of 10 tanks.

‘It is impossible to predict the long-term consequences of the dumping without further scientific research,’ says Mousseau.

Similar uncertainties existed for the effects of pesticides (eg DDT), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (ie effects on the ozone layer), plastics and even CO2 (effects on climate change).

The lack of sufficient research in these other situations led to the near extinction of many animals (e.g. DDT effects on birds).

‘Fortunately, we have largely recovered from the effects of pesticides and CFCs, but we still have to deal with the long-term effects of plastics and greenhouse gases. The long-term effects of tritium emissions are currently completely unknown, but should be of great concern to everyone.”

Despite Japan’s insistence that the water discharge is completely safe following assessments by foreign experts and the IAEA, the plan has enraged neighboring countries.

China has since banned Japanese seafood, criticizing the country as “extremely selfish and irresponsible.”

The Chinese Communist Party’s main newspaper, The Global Times, went on to write that it could open “Pandora’s box” and spark fears of a “real Godzilla,” about the reptilian monster that first appeared in Japanese cinema in 1954 .

Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “The ocean is the common property of all mankind, and forcibly initiating the discharge of Fukushima’s nuclear wastewater into the ocean is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act that would harm international public interests. ignores.’

South Korean protesters also attempted to enter the Japanese embassy in Seoul with banners reading “The sea is not Japan’s garbage.”