Losing sight in our mindless pursuit of more

Losing sight in our mindless pursuit of more. 

The fukushima disaster and what it means for us

By Planeto

There are so many questions I would like to scream into the world so that maybe one day the people with power and responsibility can finally hear us. The actions of ordinary people like us matter, but how can we empower the world to change if our leaders don’t? One day they will hear these screams. One day our voice will not simply pass through their ears but they will into their minds. Our voices will not settle until they cannot ignore it any longer until they start changing. This post is only one of my many shouts for awareness.

If you lose sight of what’s important, it may not be there when you need it.

- Panchal Yash

After hearing about Japan’s recent announcement to release nearly 1.3 million tonnes of “treated” nuclear wastewater into the sea, I desperately wanted to discover the cause, background, and buildup towards this decision.

I would like to know what drove us humans to harm our oceans, our environment, and our homes in such an unchangeable way. Though the cause behind this may have been partly due to natural disasters, did Japan have no choice, no part in this decision? Is Japan the only country at fault? When will people realize and understand the damage we are causing our home with every decision, every agreement, and every action we do for ourselves?

What Happened?

Main Cause of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

The Fukushima disaster 2011 began the many events that led to Japan’s decisions. This disaster was a combination of multiple disasters. The Great East Japan Earthquake (also known as the Tohoku Earthquake) occurred on March 11, 2011. This level 9 earthquake was the most powerful earthquake ever in Japan, causing the earth to change its axis by a few degrees.

Tens of thousands of people were harmed and missing due, and the powerful tsunami it triggered only added to the destruction. The tsunami waves reached 40 meters, traveling up to 10 kilometers inland. This tsunami spread to Fukushima, where the 14-meter-high waves completely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Image from BBC News

Nuclear reactors “produce and control the release of energy from splitting the atoms of certain elements.” The energy nuclear reactors make allow nuclear power to be turned into electricity, the main goal of Nuclear Power Plant. The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant reactors immediately shut down after detecting the earthquake. However, the plant was flooded because of the high tsunami waves, “leading to three nuclear meltdowns, three hydrogen explosions, and the release of radioactive contamination.”

The radiation that spread into the atmosphere throughout the days following forced over 100 thousand residents to evacuate.

Picture of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. Image from Wikipedia

The Immediate Effects After the Disaster - Contamination of Water

For all nuclear plants, water is always used to cool the radioactive cores that generate heat. However, the water will become contaminated with radioactive atoms while cooling these cores. Typically, this contaminated water is filtered, removing as many of these radioactive components as possible. This water can usually be safely, and at small amounts, discharged into larger bodies of water such as oceans and lakes when certified safe.

However, due to the large amount of water needed immediately after the Fukushima disaster to cool down the damaged nuclear reactors. There was little more storage space available for radioactive water. Thus, on April 5, 2011, the Tokyo Electric Power Company dumped 11,500 tons of untreated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. This water was 100 times the legal regulations.

Since 2011, there have been several leakages and disposals, but most of the heavily contaminated water has been stored in over a thousand tanks across the nuclear plant area.

What Do We Do Now? What is Happening Now?

As mentioned, the Tokyo Electric Power Company uses water to cool and manage the damaged reactors. However, as of today, over 1.3 million tons of filtered and contaminated water are stored in over 1,000 separate tanks.

Fukushima’s Many Tanks That Store Nuclear Wastewater. Image from NBC News

There is simply no more space left for all this contaminated water.

Thus, On 13 April 2021, Prime Minister Suga approved Tokyo Electric Company dumping the stored water into the Pacific Ocean over 30 years. As of 2023, Japan announced they would start and prepare to release this contaminated water, supposedly filtered and recognized as “safe.” They plan to release all of this “treated” nuclear wastewater into the pacific ocean through an underground tunnel.

However, according to the Guardian, though the nuclear wast-water uses on-site technology to remove most radioactive materials, the water still contains tritium, a naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen that is technically difficult to separate from water. If the nuclear wastewater was treated and did no harm, why must Japan release it into the pacific sea and not near its shore? Though mostly treated, there is no doubt that nuclear wastewater will always contain radioactive components. This could be why so many neighboring countries (such as China and Korea) and local fishermen are protesting for a change of plans.

Image from DTE

This release of wastewater has many effects. Though subtle, even treated nuclear wastewater can damage the many marine animals in our ocean. Imagine you were the animal, and people were dumping millions of tonnes of “treated” nuclear air into our world. Would you feel safe? Is it safe?

I think all of us would know the answer.

Why Did It Happen? Who’s to Blame?

Many blame the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electrical Company for not building high tsunami prevention walls around the power plant or ensuring the technology was safe. They blame the company for their lack of awareness on the dangers of such nuclear plants. They blame the government for not building and providing enough space on land to contain nuclear wastewater. People blame them; for their laziness, for their unawareness, for their lack of empathy.

But could any of us have thought of these things ourselves? Amid the power and benefits nuclear power plants can give our homes, could we have considered all the thousands of problems that it might lead to in the future? We couldn’t have. Neither did they.

But, there was a way out of this. There was a way to prevent us from dumping our waste into our oceans. There was a way to prevent us from becoming lost in our pursuit of more. More convenience, more benefits, and more innovation.

Though the earthquake and tsunami mainly caused this disaster, we humans could have prevented the impact it had on the nuclear power plants. If our society, our entire civilization, changed our goals and became aware once more of who we are.

As Masaru Ibuka once said, “I believe a man should have a simple lifestyle - even if he could afford more.” I believe the root of this Fukushima disaster was not its unpredictability but our society’s constant selfish pursuit of more. Why did Japan, and the many other countries in this world, choose nuclear power plants in all ways? Yes, it has a high capacity to generate electricity but think about it for a second.

The root of this problem is not trying to generate more energy but our need for energy. Our society's growing need for more energy is simply because we need too much to sustain our current living conditions. Our greed for more has taken over our lives. Everything we do in our society today, the cultivation of new resources, the hunting for new planets, new homes, are they not ways of handling our greed?

There are so many clothes, meat products, and new stretches of land in our lives, but do we need all of it? Or are we simply selfishly pursuing things that are essentially useless to us?

We need to stop to look at what has become of our home. Look at what has become of our oceans, forests, and homes because of our greed.

High Amounts of Things We Produce Going to Waste. Image from Unsplash

According to the book, "The Limits to Growth, " Our earth’s resources – our planets ecosystem will not be able to support our current rates of economic and population growth much beyond the year 2100, even with more advanced technology. Our needs for more has stretched beyond the resources our earth can give us, beyond our human capacity.

If our society were to keep on expanding, if it were to continue to find new ways of generating energy as we did for nuclear power, what would happen? Our growing desire for more will only end up with more accidents and disasters we could not have predicted, exactly like the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.

Human society tends to strive for more. And I think, in our pursuit of finding a better, quicker solution, we have become blind. We have become selfish. We have forgotten that it is our planet, our oceans, and our forests that give us our only opportunity to live.

The Fukushima disaster and the decision to release wastewater into the oceans today is a reminder to us all. It is a devastating reminder of what our actions lead to. Is our idea of a “better” society going to be better if it brings only harm to our home? Let us wake up from the dream of more.

Many countries are already waking up. Germany quit nuclear power, closing all their nuclear plants on April 15, 2023. Three days after Fukushima's nuclear disaster, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany would slowly accelerate into a nuclear phase-out. They shut down old nuclear plants immediately; as of today, they are completely nuclear-free. People in Germany have realized the risks and consequences of nuclear power. However, nuclear power is a crucial form of energy in Germany. Up until March 2011 obtained, one-quarter of its electricity from nuclear energy. However, they realize the consequences of nuclear power on our planet. Germany also announced that by the end of this century, 80% of its electricity generation would come from renewable energy sources. This feat is huge, and I believe many countries will also follow its lead.

Germany's Past Nuclear Plants. Image from CEW

The human race is an incredible wonder. Will we let our greed dominate our lives when we have so much more to offer? Will we let our homes crumble under the pieces of our selfishness? Or are we going to build a better home for all?

Nothing can withstand endless demands, especially the earth. Let us remind ourselves to slow down before we fall into the depths of our destruction. We can change our world, but if we continue to crave and desire "more," we won't be able to have a world to change any longer.

Citations

"Fukushima: Japan Insists Release Of 1.3M Tonnes Of ‘Treated’ Water Is Safe". The Guardian, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/15/fukushima-japan-insists-release-of-treated-water-is-safe-nuclear-disaster. Accessed 29 Apr 2023.

"2011 Tōhoku Earthquake And Tsunami - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami#cite_note-official_deaths_as_of_2021-03-09-42. Accessed 29 Apr 2023.

"Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_nuclear_disaster. Accessed 29 Apr 2023.

"Fukushima Disaster: What Happened At The Nuclear Plant?". BBC News, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56252695. Accessed 29 Apr 2023.

"Discharge Of Radioactive Water Of The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discharge_of_radioactive_water_of_the_Fukushima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Power_Plant. Accessed 29 Apr 2023

"The Limits To Growth - Club Of Rome". Club Of Rome, 2023, https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/. Accessed 30 Apr 2023.

Laura Paddison, Inke Kappeler. "'A New Era': Germany Quits Nuclear Power, Closing Its Final Three Plants | CNN". Edition.Cnn.Com, 2023, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/15/europe/germany-nuclear-phase-out-climate-intl/index.html. Accessed 30 Apr 2023.

 在盲目追求更多的同时 迷失了方向

福岛核电站灾难以及现在对核废水的处理告诉我们了什么?

有太多的问题我想向世界大声呼喊，这样也许有一天有权力和责任的人终于可以听到我们的声音。像我们这样的普通人的行动虽然很重要，但如果我们的领导人不去采取行动、去改变，我们如何改变我们的社会？总有一天他们会听到这些呼喊。有一天，我们的声音不仅会通过他们的耳朵，还会进入他们的脑海。在他们开始改变之前，我们的声音就永远不会平静下来，直到他们不能再忽视。这篇文章只是我为让更多人能够意识到我们的过错而发出的呼喊之一。

如果你看不到重要的东西，那么当你需要它时，它可能就不在了。

- Panchal Yas

在听说日本最近宣布福岛的将 130 万多吨 “处理过的”核废水排入大海后，我便决定去理解这一决定的原因和背景。

我想知道是什么驱使我们人类以这种无法改变的方式伤害我们的海洋、我们的环境和我们的家园。尽管这背后的原因可能部分是自然灾害，但日本就别无选择吗？日本是唯一做错的国家吗？人们到底什么时候才能意识到我们为自己利益所做出的每一个决定、每一个协议和每一个行动正在给我们的环境造成多大的的损害？

发生了什么？

福岛核事故的主要原因

2011 年的福岛灾难是当今日本作出排放核废水决定的源起。这场灾难是多种灾难的结合。2011 年 3 月 11 日发生了东日本大地震（也称为东北地震）。这个 9 级地震是日本有史以来最强烈的地震，导致地球的地轴改变了几度。

数以万计的人因此受到伤害和失踪，而由此引发的强大海啸更是雪上加霜。海啸的浪高达 40 米，向内陆移动长达 10 公里。这场海啸扑到了福岛，结果将近14 米高的海浪将福岛第一核电站彻底摧毁。

核反应堆“通过分裂某些元素的原子来产生和控制能量的释放。” 能源核反应堆使核能转化为电能，也是核电站的主要目标。福岛核电站的反应堆在检测到地震后立即关闭。然而，该工厂因海啸巨浪被洪水淹没，“导致三起核熔毁、三起氢气爆炸和放射性污染的释放。”

在接下来的几天里，辐射扩散到大气中，迫使超过 10 万居民撤离。

灾后的直接影响——核废水

对于所有核电站，水的作用是不可替代的。水可以用来冷却产生热量的放射性核心。然而，在冷却核心时，水会被放射性原子污染，变成核废水。通常，这种受污染的水会被过滤，尽可能多地去除这些放射性成分。这种水通常可以安全地少量的排放到海洋和湖泊。

然而，由于福岛灾难发生后立即需要大量的水来冷却受损的核反应堆，几乎没有更多的存储空间可用于存放放射性水。因此，2011年4月5日，东京电力公司向太平洋倾倒了11,500吨未经处理的核废水。这些核废水是安全规定的 100 倍。

自 2011 年以来，发生多次核废水的泄漏和处理，但大部分严重污染的水都储存在整个核电站区域的 1000 多个水箱中。

日本现在在做什么？

如前所述，东京电力公司使用水来冷却和管理损坏的反应堆。时至今日，超过 130 万吨的过滤水和受污染的水储存在 1,000 多个独立的水箱中。

现在根本没有更多空间可以容纳所有这些受污染的水。

因此，2021 年 4 月 13 日，菅义伟首相批准了东京电力公司将储存的水在未来30 多年的过程中，倾倒入太平洋 。截至 2023 年，日本宣布他们将开始并准备排放这些称经过过滤并被认为“安全”的受污染水。他们计划通过海下隧道将所有这些“处理过的”核废水排放到太平洋中。

然而，据《The Guardian》报道，尽管核废水已经通过技术移除大多数放射性物质，水中仍然含有氚。这是一种天然存在的放射性氢，从技术上讲很难从水中分离出来。而且, 如果核废水经过处理没有危害，为什么日本必须将其排放到太平洋而不是靠近自己的海岸去处理？尽管大部分都经过处理，但毫无疑问，核废水始终含有放射性成分。这也便就是为什么这么多邻国（如中国和韩国）和当地渔民抗议这个计划的原因。

这种废水的排放有很多影响。即使放射性元素含量微小，核废水也会损害我们海洋中的许多海洋动物。想象一下， 如果你是动物，人们正在向我们的世界倾倒数百万吨“经过处理”的核废空气。你会感到安全吗？这个空气是安全的吗？

我想我们所有人都会知道答案。

为什么会这样？是谁的错？

许多人指责日本政府和东京电气公司没有在发电厂周围建足够高的海啸防护墙，没有再次确保技术安全。他们指责公司缺乏对核电站的危机意识。他们指责政府没有在陆地上建造和提供足够的空间来容纳核废水。人们责怪他们；责怪他们的懒惰、粗心、和不专业性。

但是我们自己能够预料到这些事情吗？在核电站给我们的家园带来的能量和好处中，我们是否能够考虑到它在未来可能导致的所有问题？我们不能。他们也没有。

但是，当初是有办法避免福岛核废水危机的。原来是有方法可以防止我们将核废水倾倒到海洋中。有方法可以防止我们在追求更多; 更多的便利，更多的好处，更多的利益的过程中迷失方向。

虽然地震和海啸主要造成了福岛这场灾难，但我们人类本可以避免它对核电站的和对我们当今的影响; 如果我们的社会，我们的整个文明，重新审视并且改变我们的目标、并重新意识到我们到底是谁。

正如日本企业家井深大曾经说过的，“我相信一个人应该过一种简单的生活方式——即使他负担得起更多。” 我相信这次福岛灾难的根源不是自然灾难的不可预测性，而是我们社会对“更多”的自私追求。为什么日本和世界上许多其他国家选择以各种方式建造核电站？是的，它具有很高的发电能力，但请想一下。

这个问题的根源是我们对能量的需求。 我们的社会对更多能源的需求日益增长，因为我们实在需要太多的能源来维持我们的生活条件。我们对更多的贪婪占据了我们的生活。我们当今社会上所做的一切; 新资源的开发、对新星球、新家园的寻找，难道不都是对付我们贪婪的方式吗？

我们生活中那么多衣服、那么多肉产品、那么多新土地的开发，我们真的需要那么多吗? 我们是否在过于自私的追求本质上对我们无用的东西? 

我认为我们需要停下来。让我们看一看我们的环境吧。看一看我们的海滩、我们的树林、我们的家园因为我们的贪婪变成什么了什么样子。

根据《增长的极限》一书，即使采用更先进的技术，我们地球的资源——到 2100 年以后, 我们的行星生态系统将无法支持我们目前的经济和人口增长率。我们对更多资源的需求已经超出了地球所能提供的资源，也超出了我们人类的能力。

如果我们的社会继续扩张，继续寻找新的能源产生方式，就像我们在开发核能所做的那样，会发生什么？我们对更多的渴望只会带来我们无法预料的事故和灾难，就如福岛核灾难一样。

人类社会倾向于争取更多。我认为，在我们寻求更好、更快的解决方案的过程中，我们变得盲目了。我们变得自私了。我们忘记了，是我们的地球、我们的海洋和我们的森林给了我们生存的唯一机会。

福岛灾难和今天向海洋排放核废水的决定提醒了我们所有人。这是一个毁灭性的提醒，它展现出了我们社会自私的行为会导致什么。如果我们对于“更好”社会的理想只会给我们的家园和环境带来伤害，这个理想真的更好吗？让我们从追求更多的幻想中醒来吧。

许多国家已经觉醒。 德国于 2023 年 4 月 15 日退出核电，关闭所有核电站。福岛核灾难发生三天后，总理安格拉·默克尔宣布德国将缓慢加速逐步淘汰核能。他们立即关闭旧核电站；德国人已经意识到核电的风险和后果。然而，核能以前是德国重要的能源形式。截至 2011 年 3 月，四分之一的电力来自核能。然而，他们意识到核能对我们星球的影响。德国还宣布，到本世纪末，其发电量的80%将来自可再生能源。这个壮举是巨大的，相信很多国家也会效仿。

人类是一个不可思议的奇迹。人类可以高贵而善良，我们怎么能让我们的贪婪主宰我们的世界。 我们会让我们的家园在我们自私的行为下崩塌吗？还是我们要为所有人建造一个更美好的世界？

没有什么可以经得起无限制的索取，尤其是地球。在我们陷入毁灭的深渊之前，让我们提醒自己放慢脚步。我们可以改变我们的世界，但如果我们继续渴望“更多”，我们将无法再有一个世界可以改变。