Radioactive Waste 97 - Japan Seeking Demonstration Projects to Remove Tritium from Fukushima Water

         My last blog was about tritium, the dangerous radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Tritium is being released worldwide by operating nuclear reactors. Nuclear accidents such as Fukushima can release huge amounts of tritium. There is no existing nuclear technology for the removal of tritium from water. Japan is now seeking bids for demonstration projects for tritium removal. Three companies have been selected to construct the demonstration projects.

Radioactive Waste 96 - Tritium from Nuclear Reactors is a Major Biological Threat

         Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has two neutrons in the nucleus in addition to the single proton. Radioactive beta particles are emitted by tritium. (Beta particles are high energy electrons or positrons.) Since water is contained in living cells, heavy water with tritium instead of normal hydrogen is easily absorbed by living tissue when it is consumed. It can also enter a living body by being inhaled as water vapor.

Radioactive Waste 95 - Scotland is Considering Shipping Nuclear Fuel by Sea from Dounreay to Sellafield in England

         Dounreay is a facility on the north coast of Scotland that was used to develop prototypes of fast breeder reactors and to test submarine reactors. There are five nuclear reactors at Dounreay, three of which are operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority which is a government agency responsible for the development of nuclear fusion. The other two nuclear reactors are operated by the Ministry of Defense. The Dounreay site is being decommission.

Radioactive Waste 94 - Spain is Working On a Temporary Storage Facility for Radioactive Wastes

         Spain gets about twenty percent of its electricity from seven nuclear power reactors. In 1983, the Spanish government put in place a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power reactors or the relicensing of existing nuclear power reactors. For many years, Spain had a policy of replacing nuclear reactors with renewable energy sources. The forty year old Jose Cabrera nuclear power plant was shut down in 2006. In 2011, the Spanish government cancelled the moratorium.

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