“Let It Go” Japan's Fukushima Ice Wall is Unnecessary and Fuels Irrational Fears

“Let It Go”

Japan's Fukushima Ice Wall is Unnecessary and Fuels Irrational Fears

It’s time for the Tokyo Electric Power Company to take a cue from the movie Frozen and “let it go” – building an ice wall around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to prevent groundwater from seeping in and getting contaminated does not address public safety concerns and will continue to arouse radiation fears in the Japanese public if the project faces difficulties (which it has). An even more pragmatic solution exists: rather than attempt to capture and store all of the waste water in tanks, let the treated water go back into the ocean, where dilution and mixing would mitigate any harmful effects from radiation. An ice wall may only serve to confirm the nuclear village myth, where the appearance of action supersedes transparency about the nature of the perceived risks.

July 28, 2014 | James Conca
http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/let-it-go