While the earthquake itself caused no damage to Fukushima, the nearby areas were decimated, and the earthquake caused a gargantuan tsunami to form. As soon as the earthquake was detected, the power plant shut down the nuclear reactors and activated an emergency system of diesel generators in order to keep coolant pumping around the reactor cores. However, nothing could have prepared the workers at Fukushima for the tsunami, rising to over 14 meters high, that crashed over the emergency seawalls and flooded the emergency generators. With nothing to keep the reactor cores cool, over the next few days they had partially melted, causing a nuclear meltdown (see figure one). Nuclear waste began to seep into the atmosphere surrounding the plant and into the pacific ocean, which caused a massive state of panic. 

Today, cleanup is still in progress. Recently, the Japanese government approved the release of wastewater from the disaster that had been severely diluted back into the ocean. Wastewater is water that was used to cool the reactor cores during the state of emergency. Supposedly, the water is safer and contains less contaminants than the average drinking water in Japan. However, while the government approves, neighboring countries like China and Korea disapprove of the action, as they consider it unsafe and too risky to proceed with. A lot of Japan’s locals also disapprove of the action, because they fear it will contaminate the ocean and harm the fish, which is a massive supply of food for Japanese natives, along with being a large factor in Japan’s economy. 

Tritium is used on a daily basis to produce luminescence in glow-in-the-dark lighting like in figures five and six. The most commonly found form of tritium is in tritiated water. This occurs when a tritium atom replaces one of the hydrogen atoms in water, forming T2O, also known as 3H2O, instead of H2O, as shown in figure two.  for While this water is considered contaminated, it is still safe to consume. Since tritium is a weak form of beta-radiation, it does not cause a severe detrimental effect to the consumer, unless a large quantity is consumed. Tritium consumed by humans also only has a half-life of 7-10 days, as shown in figures three and four, which makes it very difficult to have enough tritium in one's body to cause a negative health effect. Tritium does not produce enough energy to penetrate the human skin, so it is rare that it causes a health risk. However, studies conducted by American Science Magazine have shown that consuming tritium does slightly increase the risk of cancer, but the risk is small enough that it is not considered to be a problem. 

The Japanese government has taken these factors into consideration, and they have concluded that releasing water contaminated with tritium into the ocean will dilute the solution enough so that it will not cause a harmful effect to any ocean wildlife or human life. They say that the release process will meet international standards, and that it has been approved and endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Japanese government also says that the dilution process will reduce the amount of tritium in the water to a level considered safe by the World Health Organization's standards for drinking water. 

While all of the data points to the plan being safe, there is still controversy among the public and neighboring countries. Both China and the Koreas have expressed their concerns with the plan, and they do not want Japan to proceed with the plan of releasing the tritiated water into the ocean. The concern among the public comes with the idea of polluting the ocean and/or killing  the fish, which is a huge source of food for the people of Japan. 

While it has been scientifically proven that releasing the tritiated water into the ocean will not have a detrimental effect on the environment or the people of Japan, there is still a large moral issue with doing this. The people of Japan are worried about the possible unforeseen side effects that could occur as a result of consuming the tritiated water, and of what it will do to the fish. To try to quell these concerns, the Japanese government released a cartoon, as shown in figure seven, to convince the people of Japan that consuming tritiated water is safe, but this only caused more backlash among the people. 

The people of Japan are not the only ones concerned about the release of the wastewater. Both China and the Koreas have expressed their concerns with the method. However, if the water is not deposited into the ocean, there is no really good place to store it. This shows us that Japan is facing a dilemma where they have to choose between morality and practicality. 

It is unknown whether or not this method will be a success or not, because it has not happened yet, but it is expected to be successful. If it is not successful, then Japan will be facing one of the biggest problems ever, since they will never be able to remove all the tritium from the ocean. If the radioactivity affects the population of Japan, this could be a catastrophic failure that leads to the death of many people. It will also affect everyone, since the ocean will be contaminated, and this contamination will likely spread globally. However, the volume of water in the ocean compared to the volume of water being deposited in it will most likely dilute the tritized water, and there will be no problem. This is probably why so many people are concerned with Japan’s idea. However, it is unlikely that the method will fail. This will cause the method to be a great success, and it will be a breakthrough in scientific technology. Japan will be able to safely dispose of the wastewater, and the ALPS filter will be proven to be very successful. This will also allow Japan to treat and clean the reactor in the best and safest way possible. Japan has already been approved to proceed with dumping the wastewater in the ocean, so they will likely do it in the near future. Hopefully, the outcome is successful, otherwise we will be dealing with an irreversible and catastrophic tragedy that will affect everyone around the world. 

Arnoux, -R. (2016, February 1). Tritium: Changing lead into gold. ITER. https://www.iter.org/mag/8/56. 

BBC. (2021, April 13). Fukushima: Japan approves releasing wastewater into ocean. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56728068. 

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. (n.d.). Tritium Fact Sheet. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: Tritium Fact Sheet. https://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/pdfs/Fact_Sheets/January-2013-Fact-Sheet-Tritium_e.pdf. 

Dennis NormileApr. 13, 2021, Robert ServiceMay. 18, 2021, Kelly ServickMay. 13, 2021, Sofia MoutinhoApr. 7, 2021, Sofia MoutinhoMar. 31, 2021, & Sofia MoutinhoMar. 26, 2021. (2021, April 14). Japan plans to release Fukushima's wastewater into the ocean. Science. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/japan-plans-release-fukushima-s-contaminated-water-ocean. 

Duke Energy | Nuclear Information Center. (2016, October 6). All Posts. Duke Energy | Nuclear Information Center. https://nuclear.duke-energy.com/posts?t=Nuclear%2BEnergy&page=7. 

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Half-life. Encyclopedia Britannica.    https://www.britannica.com/science/half-life-radioactivity.