Staff
The Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Station, as seen from above. Officials announced treated wastewater will be released into the ocean. Image: TEPCO/Wikimedia Commons
In roughly two years, the Japanese government will begin releasing the contaminated Fukushima nuclear power station water into the Pacific Ocean. Officials made the announcement on Tuesday.
Ever since the ground shook and the tsunami wave hit back in 2011, the containment ponds at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station have been slowly filling up. After the disaster struck, water had to be pumped into the reactor to keep the fuel rods cool.
But that water, once it’s served its purpose, needs to be stored somewhere. In the process of cooling those rods, however, it becomes contaminated with tritium, cesium-137, and other dangerous elements. More than 1,000 enormous tanks were built as a place to put that water, but now, a decade later, the tanks are reaching their fill point.