Nuclear contaminated water is discharged into the sea. Can rivers, lakes and reservoirs be spared?

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There have been many discussions recently about "Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea".

But when it comes to ocean pollution ,

We have to talk about rivers and lakes .

After all, they all originate from "water".

Let’s talk about it today:

In this process, the water molecule (H20) changes only from liquid to gas.

Its molecular size and structure have not changed.

Then in this process,

What role do radioactive elements in nuclear contaminated water play?

Their chemical formulas are:

1H (Protium, H)

2H (deuterium, D)

3H (Tritium, T)

The nucleus of protium 1H has only one proton and is a stable isotope;

The nucleus of deuterium 2H consists of 1 proton and 1 neutron, and it is also a stable isotope;

The nucleus of tritium 3H is composed of 1 proton and 2 neutrons. It is a radioactive isotope, also known as " super tritium ". Although it has a large mass, it is not stable enough and easily loses neutrons to release energy, which is also the source of its radioactivity.

As hydrogen's brother, tritium has similar properties to hydrogen and can easily replace H in water molecules (H20) through isotope exchange, turning into tritiated water (T2O), which enters the sea-land water cycle along with other water molecules.

Based on relevant experts' predictions on the time it takes for nuclear contaminated water to flow into other sea areas and the half-life of various radioactive elements, can rivers, lakes and reservoirs avoid "nuclear" pollution?

However, the half-life of tritium - the time it takes for the radiation to be halved - is 12.3 years. It is impossible for it to completely eliminate the radioactivity on its own, and the impact of nuclear pollution on rivers, lakes and reservoirs is inevitable.

Considering only the effects of tritium , the possible good news is:

The biological half-life of tritium (i.e. the half-life of the substance after entering the body) is 7 to 14 days. Similarly, tritium water can also be excreted from the body through sweating, urination, etc.

However, tritium is only one of the more than 60 radioactive nuclides contained in nuclear contaminated water, and the harm it brings is just the tip of the iceberg of nuclear contaminated water discharged into the sea.

The discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea in small quantities and batches may not seem to be enough to pose a direct threat to life, but it is only a matter of time before the "water vapor" from the Pacific Ocean lands in any corner of the world.

Produced by Guangdong Science and Technology Newspaper Media Center

Editor | Zhuo Yingzi

Design | Zhuoyingzi

Review | Liu Xiaoyong Feng Haibo