majeskiphoto Loc: Hamilton, Ontario

I think they should make all those responsible each have a drink of this 'safe' tritium laced beverage.
Watch 'THE DAYS' on Netflix

rwoodvira

Totally irresponsible.

nospambob Loc: Edmond, Oklahoma

Look up the effects of low level tritium.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

They want to dump nuclear wastewater from the Indian Point nuclear power plant into the Hudson River. I was surprised to learn that Indian Point has been closed.

JBRIII

Tritium is actually a very weak beta emitter, it can't penetrate your clothing for example, assuming it hit the fibers. The problem is it can exchange with hydrogen in other molecules, i.e., those in your tissues which are bathed in water. So, some could get into your DNA, etc., where damage could be done overtime. I had courses in radio chem and prof talked about the importance of strong an emitter was, form, biological activity, etc., relative go the danger. I don't like this either, but the risk is pretty low. The general rule is storage for 7 half lives before releasing material, but storing all this water, and more to come, for what I believe would be 150 yrs, also has risks, like a one time mass release in another quake.
The only real solution for this and other similar hazards is stop making the stuff.

As a final point, we use much hotter isotopes medically daily. I got iodine for a thyroid test, you could see it in my system with a geigor counter, yet I was allowed to walk around and piss it away, etc. If a research animal, all wastes and the animal would be collected stored, burned or buried in time. Years ago, a team checking out nuclear reactors found a hot spot, it was a waste treatment plant radiating due to all the stuff used medically. Many isotopes are made and used in medicine, testing for infections, cancer, etc. some so hot they can set off every instrument even rooms away, the stories say.

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

The half life of Iodine I-131 is seven days. The amount one is allowed to take without hospitalization is regulated in the U.S. by the state. I had I=131 irradiation for thyroid cancer and was allowed 29.9 millirems in my home state without hospitalization while in a neighboring state the amount was 75 millirems. Yes you do emit some radiation after exposure and I was told not to be close to children for a week after my treatment. Like all radiation, exposure decreases by the square with distance.

neillaubenthal

As a former nuclear sub guy with a pretty good understanding of the issue…I can tell you this is a non problem. Yes…there is tritium in the water to be discharged…but news flash…there is already tritium in seawater. The ocean has ‘tritium water’ in it already and it cannot be removed…physical impossibility. They’re discharging the water a kilometer offshore and are going to take 30 years to do it all…that pits the discharge rate rate down in the gallon or three per minute area when you do the math…and realistically the level is low enough that governments allow it to be released…every commercial nuclear power releases some of this routinely but not into the ocean generally. Then there’s the dilution issue…the water there is likely at least hundreds of feet deep and there’s a current called the Kuroshio which is like our Gulf Stream…generally at least 3 mph which is 4.4 feet per second so there ar several hundred gallons of water per minute flowing past the outlet and the dilution only gets more from there. If you sampled the water 500 yards downstream from the outlet (which they will do)…the tritium levels will be background…the same level you’ll find 500 miles from land occurring naturally. What would the anti nuclear zealots have them do instead? Back in the 60s…our Navy’s Admiral Rickover…who ran the program…drank some primary coolant from a reactor at a congressional hearing…and the level of radioactivity in primary reactor coolant is thousands of times the level of tritium in this water…and that’s the only thing left in it. And as another reply noted…it’s a beta emitter and a sheet of paper is sufficient shielding to protect you from it…but calling this irresponsible or dangerous or a planet killing scheme is simply laughable.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Am am with neillaubenthal. There are sources of Tritium way higher than what this will be. One apparently is what the Chinese have been dumping for quite some time, and even that is acceptable as far as I am aware. The Japanese are bending over backwards to be exceptionally good and transparent about this. But fishermen are upset, even so.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

My youngest son was just in the play, "These Shining Lives" about women who worked for the Radium Dial company back in the late 20s. The women were using small paint brushes to paint radium on the numbers and hands of watches and clocks. They were instructed to moisten the brushes by putting them between their lips before dipping the brush into the radium. It was to make the brush tips more pointed to insure cleaner/sharper lines on the numbers they were painting.

A very emotional and moving sad story. If you ever get a chance to see the play or just read it, you will be amazed at what those ladies went through. I'll admit, I was in tears as the play ended because of the emotions it brought out.

JoeBiker Loc: homebase: Houston, TX

From: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-release-fukushima-water-into-ocean-starting-aug-24-2023-08-22 :

The released water will contain 190 becquerels of tritium per liter, far below the World Health Organization’s safety limit of 10,000 becquerels per liter for drinking water, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

From https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/issues/tbd23 (but it's not clear what the original source was):

Two plants in the UK release between 400 and 2,000 terabecquerels of tritium into the ocean every year. Plants in Japan also discharged terabecquerels of tritium before the Fukushima accident.