Fukushima: China retaliates as Japan releases treated nuclear water

[Social Media]

 

Japan has begun its controversial discharge of treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking protests in the region and retaliation from Beijing.

China is the biggest buyer of seafood from Japan, and on Thursday it said it would block all such imports.

Japan say the water is safe, and many scientists agree. The UN's nuclear watchdog has also approved the plan.

But critics say more studies need to be done and the release should be halted.

More than a million tonnes of water stored at the nuclear plant will be discharged over the next 30 years.

China, which has been the most vocal of opponents since the plan was announced two years ago, called the water discharge an "extremely selfish and irresponsible act" and said Japan was "passing an open wound onto the future generations of humanity".

 

Shortly afterwards, China's customs office announced that an existing ban on seafood imports from Fukushima and some prefectures would be immediately extended to cover the whole of Japan to "protect the health of Chinese consumers".

The move is calculated to inflict economic damage, and Japan has admitted that businesses will take a "significant" hit. Mainland China and Hong Kong together import more than $1.1bn (£866m) of seafood from Japan every year - making up nearly half of Japan's seafood exports.

Burt analysts say that the reactions from China in particular, are as much motivated by politics as they are by genuine concerns.

Tokyo's relationship to Beijing has deteriorated in recent years as it draws closer to the US and also shows support to Taiwan, an island which sees itself as independent but which China claims as its own.

 

FULL STORY

[richard_smith237]

Utterly hypocritical and ridiculous faux outrage from a nation which contributes one third of the worlds greenhouse gasses...  

 

The UN Atomic regulator has stated that the treated 'radioactive' water is safe to for discharge and that levels are less than those normally discharged by nuclear power stations in other areas of the globe. 

 

The amount of Tritium in the 'radioactive' discharge is at 1500 becquerel/litre, which is 6x less than the WHO's limit for drinking water, and after that its discharged into the Sea via a 1km pipe 

 

This is nothing more than political fear mongering and point scoring from China playing the victim card against an old foe....  

 

South Korea on the other hand has endorsed the plan... why ? because it's not playing the hypocritical virtue signalling game of the Chinese. 

[RuamRudy]

Injection into subsurface formations as a means of waste disposal is a very standard practice around the world. As per the article, the reason that it is not being pursued here is political expediency rather than technical feasibility. It definitely feels it's being rushed for reasons unclear.

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

Injection into subsurface formations as a means of waste disposal is a very standard practice around the world. As per the article, the reason that it is not being pursued here is political expediency rather than technical feasibility. It definitely feels it's being rushed for reasons unclear.

Initially, I also wondered why they are not drilling and injecting in the subsurface formations (deeper than aquifers of course)...  I assumed it was because the volumes are too large.

 

This has been a long time coming, so I'm not sure this issue has been rushed at all...   I'm not sure its an issue at all, Its just being 'made an issue'...

 

Japan is simply disposing of the waste water which has been treated to radioactive levels similar (and less) than any other nuclear power plant in other areas of Japan and the world. 

 

 

[sirineou]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

Shortly afterwards, China's customs office announced that an existing ban on seafood imports from Fukushima and some prefectures would be immediately extended to cover the whole of Japan to "protect the health of Chinese consumers".

From a country where Covid 19 has been reported to have started from the crap they eat, ? 

[Isaan sailor]

Japan should boycott Chinese products, in retaliation.

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, sirineou said:

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

Shortly afterwards, China's customs office announced that an existing ban on seafood imports from Fukushima and some prefectures would be immediately extended to cover the whole of Japan to "protect the health of Chinese consumers".

From a country where Covid 19 has been reported to have started from the crap they eat, ? 

Its typical S#!thousery from the biggest political hypocrites in the world... 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Japan should boycott Chinese products, in retaliation.

We all should... but we want our cheap products and have simply allowed ourselves to be come dependent on China....

 

... Do we really care about the environment ???....  then instead of knee-caping ourselves and purchasing from the nation which contributes 33% of the greenhouse gasses our governments should stop making deals with China...   of course everything then gets more expensive and we don't want that.... 

... But at the same time we shouldn't be buying into the utter hypocrisy of China, virtue signalling from one of the most polluting countries in the world.  

 

[still kicking]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

We all should... but we want our cheap products and have simply allowed ourselves to be come dependent on China....

 

... Do we really care about the environment ???....  then instead of knee-caping ourselves and purchasing from the nation which contributes 33% of the greenhouse gasses our governments should stop making deals with China...   of course everything then gets more expensive and we don't want that.... 

... But at the same time we shouldn't be buying into the utter hypocrisy of China, virtue signalling from one of the most polluting countries in the world.  

 

Just check out what China has done to Australia 

China's government has imposed hefty tariffs on Australian barley and wine exports¹and thrown up barriers to several other products including timber, lobster and coal¹². Here is a list of Australian exports hit by restrictions in China²:

• Barley: In May, Beijing slapped anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties to the tune of 80.5% against Australian barley.
• Wine
• Red meat
• Cotton
• Timber

[Tropicalevo]

China will impose 'political' bans and tariffs on imports from all countries that turn away from China and turn towards the USA.

[RuamRudy]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Initially, I also wondered why they are not drilling and injecting in the subsurface formations (deeper than aquifers of course)...  I assumed it was because the volumes are too large.

 

This has been a long time coming, so I'm not sure this issue has been rushed at all...   I'm not sure its an issue at all, Its just being 'made an issue'...

 

Japan is simply disposing of the waste water which has been treated to radioactive levels similar (and less) than any other nuclear power plant in other areas of Japan and the world. 

 

 

Thinking on it some more, 1 million tonnes of water over 30 years would require about 90,000 m3 injection per day every day.

 

I am no reservoir engineer and I know nothing of the geology of the area but I would suspect that that sort of injection rate would be unsustainable long term. It would be interesting to see an expert's assessment.

[chickenslegs]

16 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

Thinking on it some more, 1 million tonnes of water over 30 years would require about 90,000 m3 injection per day every day.

 

I am no reservoir engineer and I know nothing of the geology of the area but I would suspect that that sort of injection rate would be unsustainable long term. It would be interesting to see an expert's assessment.

If my maths is correct the daily average over 30 years would be about 90M³ (90,000L³ )

 

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by chickenslegs

[Sing_Sling]

Isn't China 'retaliating' about something real or imagined all the time?

[VocalNeal]

15 hours ago, sirineou said:

From a country where Covid 19 has been reported to have started from the crap they eat, ? 

From a hypocritical whinging country whose nuclear plants release more Tritium than Fukushima ever will.

 

Their foreign policy seems to be to complain about anything foreign

[richard_smith237]

30 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

45 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

Thinking on it some more, 1 million tonnes of water over 30 years would require about 90,000 m3 injection per day every day.

 

I am no reservoir engineer and I know nothing of the geology of the area but I would suspect that that sort of injection rate would be unsustainable long term. It would be interesting to see an expert's assessment.

Expand  

If my maths is correct the daily average over 30 years would be about 90M³ (90,000L³ )

 

Which is approximately 585 barrels per day (oil measurement) which is a perfectly feasible injection rate. 

 

Thus, the feasibility is there, but the necessity ???

 

I suspect the reason this method is not being used is because its completely unnecessary and as the water being disposed of into the sea is already within 'standards' there was no logical reason to do anything else...

 

... of course, that is until the uneducated media fuelled hysteria and China saw a point scoring opportunity. 

 

 

 

 

[RuamRudy]

2 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

If my maths is correct the daily average over 30 years would be about 90M³ (90,000L³ )

 

 

Oh I feel my age - you are, of course, correct and I was out by a factor of much too much {I am tempted to say a factor of 1000 but I don't have the confidence to be so bold...}.

[tonbridgebrit]

I would like to say that I am so disappointed with most of the posts above. All this silly anti-China sentiment being revealed.

Actually, I'm giggling at the comments.   ????
Okay, the report is from the BBC. I've just clicked on the link, to see the full report on there.
For a start, the young Asian bird we see on the photo, what is it ?  That's not some Far East lady protesting against China's hypocrisy. That's actually a woman in South Korea, protesting against Japan outside the Japanese Embassy in South Korea, being led away by security guards.  Some people were trying to enter the Japanese Embassy there.

Also, from the BBC report, there was an angry demonstration in Hong Kong against the stuff. Back to South Korea, the report says that South Korea has a longstanding ban on some Japanese seafood.  So, when talking about banning Japanese food, South Korea has already been doing such bans. Before this latest news.    ????


 

Edited September 3, 2023 by tonbridgebrit

[Tug]

China….people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones ehhh??

[Sing_Sling]

Ya gotta love the Chinese and Koreans 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/25/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-power-plant-china-wastewater-release

[ExpatOilWorker]

Japan should have injected the water deep in the ground, it would have safely stayed there for million of years.

Water injection is cheap, the oil industry is commonly doing it for $2/bbl.

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 8/25/2023 at 11:20 AM, RuamRudy said:

Thinking on it some more, 1 million tonnes of water over 30 years would require about 90,000 m3 injection per day every day.

Your math is off by a factor 1,000.

Saudi Arabic is injecting 7 million bbls a day, so that 1 million m3 wouldn't even last to midnight. 

I use to inject 10,000 bbls (1,500 m3) a day with 2 small pumps and a crew of 6 guys. 1 million m3 would be gone in 2 years.

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Your math is off by a factor 1,000.

Yes, you are correct - the mortification is still lingering...

 

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Saudi Arabic is injecting 7 million bbls a day, so that 1 million m3 wouldn't even last to midnight. 

I use to inject 10,000 bbls (1,500 m3) a day with 2 small pumps and a crew of 6 guys. 1 million m3 would be gone in 2 years.

I wonder if part of the issue is possible tortured subsurface conditions in Japan?

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Japan should have injected the water deep in the ground, it would have safely stayed there for million of years.

Water injection is cheap, the oil industry is commonly doing it for $2/bbl.

Unless of course the water is safe to the point that officials never considered the 'subsurface injection' option as there was simply no need whatsoever, just as there isn't at any other nuclear power-station. 

 

Water injection carried out in the oil industry is usually to maintain pressure in depleting or migrating reservoirs, being able to get rid of waste water is simply a bonus. 

 

 

[vandeventer]

On 8/24/2023 at 5:32 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Utterly hypocritical and ridiculous faux outrage from a nation which contributes one third of the worlds greenhouse gasses...  

 

The UN Atomic regulator has stated that the treated 'radioactive' water is safe to for discharge and that levels are less than those normally discharged by nuclear power stations in other areas of the globe. 

 

The amount of Tritium in the 'radioactive' discharge is at 1500 becquerel/litre, which is 6x less than the WHO's limit for drinking water, and after that its discharged into the Sea via a 1km pipe 

 

This is nothing more than political fear mongering and point scoring from China playing the victim card against an old foe....  

 

South Korea on the other hand has endorsed the plan... why ? because it's not playing the hypocritical virtue signalling game of the Chinese. 

I don't know which is worst Japan dumping radioactive waste or China dumping all their raw sewage in the ocean?

[RuamRudy]

On 9/4/2023 at 4:04 PM, vandeventer said:

I don't know which is worst Japan dumping radioactive waste or China dumping all their raw sewage in the ocean?

Doesn't just happen in China unfortunately.

 

Raw sewage dumped into English waterways 800 times a day

[vandeventer]

2 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

Doesn't just happen in China unfortunately.

 

Raw sewage dumped into English waterways 800 times a day

This is why I don't eat fish anymore.