In July 2021, CGN (China General Nuclear Power Group) admitted that fuel rods at the Taishan nuclear power plant had been damaged. Although the damage was minor, the reactor was shut down and the fuel rods were replaced. Large amounts of radioactive substances produced by nuclear fission, such as cesium, are normally confined in fuel rods, but if damaged, they can escape into the reactor vessel and contaminate cooling water and gas processing systems. Cooling water can be filtered to remove cesium, etc., and made into safe water at a sufficiently diluted concentration. On the other hand, gas is difficult to adsorb and does not pose safety problems unless the amount is large, so it is usually vented to the atmosphere. At the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, contaminated cooling water is also treated and discharged into the sea after its safety is confirmed. Gas has also been released into the atmosphere while ensuring its safety. The Taishan incident was not an accident, but a minor problem. However, radioactive materials normally contained in nuclear fuel, which should be contained in fuel rods, contaminate cooling water and are eventually released into the ocean and atmosphere. Chinese authorities have confirmed that the plant is safe. The ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, like Taishan, uses filters to remove radioactive materials from nuclear fuel, and is released into the environment after confirming that the amount is sufficiently low. Not only the Japanese authorities but also the IAEA have confirmed that it is sufficiently safe. In this way, radioactive materials from nuclear power plants are released into the environment after thorough safety confirmation. It is the same in China and Japan. Radioactive substances are naturally present in the environment. 0.08Bq/L of uranium is dissolved in seawater, and about 1Bq/L of tritium is contained in drinking water. We are surrounded by radioactive substances. Compared to these naturally existing radioactive substances, if the amounts are small enough, they will have no effect on the environment. In other words, both the Taishan nuclear power plant and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant release radioactive substances into the environment, but they have no effect on the environment. It can only be assumed that the Chinese government continues to spread false rumors as propaganda, even though it understands the scientific safety of ALPS treated water. In nuclear power plants, various radioactive substances are generated in the cooling water simply by operating the reactor. Normal water is typically used in nuclear power plants to cool the reactors. Water consists of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O), expressed as H2O. Water also contains very small quantities of deuterium (D), which has a neutron attached to a hydrogen nucleus. The deuterium absorbs the attached neutron in the reactor to produce hydrogen-3, or tritium (T). Tritium is a radioactive substance that emits beta rays. In other words, the more reactors are operated, the more tritium is automatically produced. This tritium is an isotope of hydrogen and is […]
9月前
更多Koji Okamoto
