Over 7000 tons of water have been poured onto Fukushima’s scalding fuel rods in a desperate attempt to cool them off. So what happens to that water? It soaks up radiation and sits there. Big problem.
To get some of the contaminated stuff out of there, TEPCO, the plant’s owner, is going to pump the water into a gigantic floating barge – known as the “mega float” – in the city of Shizuoka. Thousands of tons of radioactive water, floating in the ocean. What could possibly go wrong with that plan. Clearly, the scorching water needs to go, but this seems like combining the greatest risks of nuclear and oil power into one potential eco-clusterfuck. The fact that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists had to state that the plan wasn’t an April Fool’s joke is telling. [Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]