What Do We Do With Radioactive Wastewater?

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Workers in Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. Reactors at the plant began melting down after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the area. To stop the meltdown, plant workers flooded the reactors with water. But even now, when the plant is offline, the reactors need to be cooled. All that water—about 350 million gallons—is being stored on-site in over 1,000 tanks. And now, these tanks are almost full.

Today on the show, host Regina G. Barber talks to NPR reporters Geoff Brumfiel and Kat Lonsdorf about the official plan for the radioactive wastewater, the science behind the release and why some are unhappy about it.

What science story do you want to hear next on Short Wave? Email us at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave.
0:03.6	From NPR.
0:04.6	Hey, Sherwavers, Regina Barber here with a power reporting duo, NPR's Cat Lawnstorf
0:11.8	and Jeff Brunfield.
0:12.8	Hey.
0:13.8	Hey.
0:14.8	Hi there.
0:15.8	So we brought you on the show today because you've been following the Fukushima Daiichi
0:18.3	nuclear power plant in Japan.
0:20.7	It became news when it had multiple meltdowns following the massive earthquake that triggered
0:25.8	a tsunami in 2011.
0:27.8	8.9 magnitudes.
0:29.6	Fuel rods are now exposed, and if they stay that way, they could release radioactivity
0:34.8	with the fifth largest earthquake in history.
0:36.8	But you can only read it.
0:37.8	Right.
0:38.8	And a reactor meltdown is every bit as bad as it sounds.
0:41.3	Basically, what it means is the nuclear fuel inside the reactor gets so hot, it starts
0:46.9	to melt and clump together, and that can lead to a runaway chain reaction.
0:51.3	Yeah.
0:52.3	And so to stop that meltdown, they poured massive amounts of water onto that melted
0:56.8	nuclear fuel.
	...

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