fukushima nuclear disaster

@helenS the government dumped it's toxic waste on my mother's grave a while back but a team of experts say it won't do her any harm. Idk.

@helenS I don't know that much about it, but I thought it's fine because there's so little of it? Like it's not a problem, but obvoisly we shouldn't store it in the sea... Am I wrong to think this? I mean isn't there a lot more waste from say thermo power plants?

@SW-User Briefly, the main "waste" whichs come from conventional power plants consists of (a) gaseous carbon dioxide (a combustion product), leading to a temperature increase in the lower atmosphere [so-called "global heating"] as well as acidification of oceanic water (destroying coral reefs, amongst other things) and (b) a dissipation of heat from cooling water which increases the temperature of rivers, resulting in a decrease of oxygen content.
Regarding nuclear waste, our oceans have been abused as junkyards for many years, since the beginning of the so-called "atomic age". Hundreds of thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste have been dumped into the oceans, mainly the deep sea; since 1993 (!), ocean disposal has been banned by international treaties. The barrels which contained the nuclear waste are rotten because sea water is corrosive so the toxic radionuclides have been released into the ocean water. Free radionuclides have been detected near the oceanic junkyards, the Arctic, the North Atlantic, and the Pacific ocean. Radionuclides are incorporated by micro-organisms and are accumulated through the food chain. The nuclides will remain highly radioactive for millions of years – they will not go away, they will accumulate and accumulate in biomatter. 😕

@Tarnished It seems we may have to face up to a nuclear future, to avoid excessive global warming.

The problem of dealing with nuclear waste is going to be a headache which will not go away.

Still building a nuclear plant in an earthwork zone was asking for trouble. Damage done!

@SW-User Molten Salt Reactors are a possible avenue for future nuclear power that are much more environmentally friendly than current conventional nuclear reactors.

@kentex35 Lake Erie and Lake Michigan are ranked the third and fourth most polluted lakes in the United States, according to nature website AZ Animals.Jun 7, 2023.


According to the recent study by the Rochester Institute of Technology, 22 million pounds of plastic are dumped into the Great Lakes every year among which Lake Michigan turns out to be the most polluted one with 11 million pounds of them poured into.

Lake Superior is the Cleanest and Clearest Great Lake.

@JSul3 thank you for the a2ai did not even think about that. Does lake Michigan have beachfront in Chicago and Detroit among other places is second biggest or no.
I'll bet lake Superior is mostly in Canada. Where does that plastic collect at?. It's it like the Pacific being some big island of plastic? The plastic you can see in the Pacific isn't the worst part it's the plastic that been breaking down being exposed to sunlight and the tiny pieces it becomes. Peace

@kentex35 Chicago is on Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Lake Michigan accounts for all 28 miles of the city's shoreline and beaches, offering year-round beauty and enjoyment to all.
Chicago's entire 28-mile Lake Michigan shoreline is man-made. The original sand dune and swale topography has been dramatically altered. Before American settlement, storms changed the shoreline, either by building up or eroding sand.
With more than 1,600 miles of shoreline touching the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin, Lake Michigan is home to many beautiful sandy beaches. In fact, the region has been nicknamed "The Third Coast" of the United States after the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Several islands as well as inland lakes and rivers near its shores add to the beauty and accessibility of Lake Michigan.
Many Lake Michigan beaches are located in national, state, and county parks with excellent facilities for visitors. Beach towns, lakefront resorts, cabins, campgrounds, historic inns, and hotels provide a wide variety of places to stay.

Detroit beaches off Lake Michigan: Warren Dunes State Park, one of Lake Michigan's best beaches.
Silver Beach in St. Joseph.
Oval Beach, a best Lake Michigan beach.
Grand Haven Pier.
LIttle Sable Point at Silver Lake State Park.
Petoskey State Park.

Lake Superior is 'superior' for a reason:
As the coldest (it’s refreshing!) and most northern of the lakes, Superior is also the clearest. Because of its somewhat isolated location and long cold winters, not much farming is done along Superior’s shores. This means lower amounts of nutrients, sediments, and organic material are floating around the lake.
Superior also doesn’t have any major cities resting on its banks, unlike Lake Michigan, which has Chicago, and Huron and Erie, which are connected by the Detroit River. These factors combine to make Superior incredibly clean and crystal clear—just how everyone likes it.

@originnone And the organs they target

@SW-User Most of the isotopes are whole body seekers; the exceptions are Sr-89, Sr-90, which are bone seekers (and therefore pose a risk to teeth), Cs-134, Cs-137 (also bone seekers) or any isotope of Iodine, which seeks the thyroid. Other than that and plutonium (which should be minimal despite fuel damage), the isotopes will generally distribute about equally throughout the body....

@kentex35 Bombs have nothing to do with nuclear power.

There have been studies of the long term effect of radiation, both of the American testing in Bikini for example, and the British Testing in Australia. Though the British government has never owned up to the damage it caused to the native people, nor did they care.Whether the Americans did tests after Three Mile Island I do not know, I know they panicked.
Chernobyl remains a partial mystery as it was in the Soviet era.

Radiation passes through the food chain quickly.

@SW-User On March 1, 1954, the United States conducted its largest thermonuclear weapon test in Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands; the detonation was code-named “Castle Bravo.” Radioactive deposits in the ocean sediment at the bomb crater are widespread and high levels of contamination remain today.

@SW-User I just meant contamination wise. It's the dumping and the tests contaminated equally or is one worse than the other as far as the ocean goes

@caesar7 it's not as concentrated as the atoll they tested the bomb in. Near the Marshall Islands. No swimming there for another 10 to 15 thousand years. Now we know for sure how Godzilla came about huh y'all.