March 19th: According to domestic media reports, Japan officially began discharging Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea on August 24th, 2023, with a total of approximately 23,000 tons discharged last year.
After half a year of ocean current movement, the Japanese nuclear wastewater will soon impact Chinese waters.
This morning, a message stating "A research simulation of the Japanese nuclear wastewater discharge diffusion process: 240 days to reach the Chinese coast, covering the North Pacific after 1200 days" sparked heated discussion among internet users.
The research comes from a Tsinghua University team. As early as 2021, Tsinghua University conducted experiments on the diffusion mechanism of nuclear wastewater in the Pacific Ocean in relation to wastewater discharge.
According to simulations by a team at Tsinghua University, the discharged nuclear wastewater from Japan is expected to reach the Chinese coast in approximately 240 days.
The simulated trajectory indicates that the wastewater could arrive in Zhejiang on April 20, 2024, and in Shanghai on April 25, potentially spreading northward to coastal provinces like Shandong and Liaoning.
It's important to note that China was previously the largest importer of Japanese seafood products. However, due to the ongoing detection of excessive radioactive cesium levels in seafood from the Fukushima area, the Chinese Customs General Administration has suspended all imports of Japanese seafood products since August 24, 2023.
The potential health impacts of the nuclear wastewater discharge on humans are still uncertain. However, the irresponsible nature of this action raises substantial concerns about potential health risks.
Furthermore, Japan has already announced that it will continue discharging nuclear wastewater into the ocean in 2024. The Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to release approximately 54,600 tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in seven separate discharges during the 2024 fiscal year.
The discharge is a result of the large volume of contaminated water that was generated when seawater was pumped into the Fukushima nuclear plant to cool the reactors after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
This contaminated water has been stored in special containers, and over the past decade, the volume has accumulated to approximately 1.37 million tons. The Japanese government has decided to release this water into the ocean in batches, a process that industry experts estimate could take up to 30 years to complete.
Fukushima Daiichi Liquid Radwaste Tanks
