🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 99 (from laksa122)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa099.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.wired.com/story/fukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.wired.com/story/fukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water\/","crawl_time":1776185146,"first_indexed_time":1524901844,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,wired!www,\/story\/fukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water\/ s443","src_root_hash":"5736512710119187299","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Fukushima’s Other Big Problem: A Million Tons of Radioactive Water | WIRED","meta_descriptions":["More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"The tsunami-driven seawater\nthat engulfed Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has long since receded. But plant officials are still struggling to cope with another dangerous flood: the enormous amounts of radioactive water the crippled facility generates each day. More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks—and so far, there’s no plan to deal with them.\nThe earthquake and tsunami that hammered Fukushima on March 11, 2011\ntriggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors\n. That left messes of intensely radioactive fuel somewhere loose in the reactor buildings—though\nno one knows exactly where\n. What is known, however, is that every day, as much as much as 150 tons of groundwater percolates into the reactors through cracks in their foundations, becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes in the process.\nWIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\nTo keep that water from leaking into the ground or the Pacific,\nTepco\n, the giant utility that owns the plant, pumps it out and runs it through a massive filtering system housed in a building the size of a small aircraft hangar. Inside are arrays of seven-foot tall stainless steel tubes, filled with sand grain-like particles that perform a process called ion exchange. The particles grab on to ions of cesium, strontium, and other dangerous isotopes in the water, making room for them by spitting out sodium. The highly toxic sludge created as a byproduct is stored elsewhere on the site in thousands of sealed canisters.\nSpencer Lowell\nThis technology has improved since the catastrophe. The first filtering systems, installed just weeks after the disaster by California-based Kurion Inc. (which has since been bought by Veolia, a French resource management company), only caught cesium, a strong gamma radiation emitter that makes it the most dangerous of the isotopes in the water. The tubes in those arrays were filled with highly modified grains of naturally occurring volcanic minerals called zeolites. By 2013, the company developed entirely artificial particles—a form of titano silicate—that also grab strontium.\nThe filters, however, don’t catch tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. That’s a much trickier task. Cesium and strontium atoms go into solution with the water, like sugar in tea; but tritium can bond with oxygen just like regular hydrogen, rendering the water molecules themselves radioactive. “It’s one thing to separate cesium from water, but how do you separate water from water?” asks John Raymont, Kurion’s founder and now president of Veolia’s nuclear solutions group. The company claims to have developed a system that can do the job, but Tepco has so far balked at the multi-billion dollar cost.\nSo for now, the tritiated water is pumped into a steadily growing collection of tanks. There are already hundreds of them, and Tepco has to start building a new one every four days.\nTepco has at least reduced the water’s inflow. As much as 400 tons per day was gushing in just a couple of years ago. In an effort to keep the groundwater from getting in, Tepco has built a network of pumps, and in 2016 installed an underground “ice wall”—a $300 million subterranean fence of 30-yard-long rods through which tons of sub-zero brine is pumped, freezing the surrounding earth. All of which helps, but hasn’t solved the problem.\nMost Popular\nTritium is far less dangerous than cesium—it emits a weaker, lower-energy form of radiation. Still, all that tritiated water can’t just be stored indefinitely. “Some of those tanks and pipes will eventually fail. It’s inevitable,” says Dale Klein, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has been consulting with Tepco since the early days following the disaster. (In fact, hundreds of tons of water leaked out of the tanks in 2013 and 2014, sparking an international outcry. Tepco has since improved their design.)\nKlein, among others, believes that the concentrations of tritium are low enough that the water can safely be released into the sea. “They should dilute and dispose of it,” he says. “It would be better to have a controlled release than an accidental one.”\nBut the notion of dumping tons of radioactive water into the ocean is understandably a tough sell. Whatever faith the Japanese public had left in Tepco took a further beating in the first couple of years after the meltdowns, when several investigations forced the company to acknowledge they had underreported the amount of radiation released during and after the disaster. Japan’s fishing industry raises a ruckus whenever the idea of dumping the tritiated water is broached; they already have to contend with import restrictions imposed by neighboring countries worried about eating contaminated fish. Japan’s neighbors including China, Korea, and Taiwan have also objected.\nFor now, all Tepco can do is keep building tanks, and hope that someone comes up with a solution before they run out of room—or the next earthquake hits.\nRadioactive Response\nHumans still can't locate the hundreds of tons of fuel inside the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011—but\nmaybe robots can\n.\nCancer rates spiked after Fukushima, but\nyou shouldn't necessarily blame the radiation\n.\nBut nuclear energy still carries major risks:\nDo they outweigh the benefits\nin a rapidly warming world?","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to main content](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water\/#main-content)\n\n[SECURITY](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/security\/)\n\n[POLITICS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/politics\/)\n\n[THE BIG STORY](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/big-story\/)\n\n[BUSINESS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/business\/)\n\n[SCIENCE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/science\/)\n\n[CULTURE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/culture\/)\n\n[REVIEWS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/)\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav)\n\n[SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Security](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/security\/)\n\n[Politics](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/politics\/)\n\n[The Big Story](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/big-story\/)\n\n[Business](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/business\/)\n\n[Science](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/science\/)\n\n[Culture](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/culture\/)\n\n[Reviews](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/)\n\nMore\n\n[The Big Interview](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/the-big-interview\/)[Magazine](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/magazine\/)[Events](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/wired-events\/)[WIRED Insider](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/collection\/wiredinsider\/)[WIRED Consulting](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/wired-consulting\/)\n\n[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav)\n\n[Podcasts](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/podcasts\/)\n\n[Video](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/video\/)\n\n[Livestreams](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/livestreams)\n\n[Merch](https:\/\/shop.wired.com\/)\n\n[Search](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/search\/)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/auth\/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Ffukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION)\n\n[START FREE TRIAL](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_JNY_WIR_GLOBAL_NAV_DRAWER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[![ZOOM IN \\<br\\> Subscribe today for only \\<del\\>\\$4\\<\/del\\> \\<strong\\>\\$2\/month\\<\/strong\\> and get access to exclusive benefits including \\<strong\\>5 all-new premium newsletters.\\<\/strong\\> CTA:SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/686ea38fcb59aaabef7a795d\/original\/pass\/Wired_Zoom_Rollover_300x200_v2a_Shorter.gif?format=original)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_ROLLOVER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/auth\/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Ffukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION)\n\nThe intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to **5 all-new premium newsletters.** [START FREE TRIAL](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_PAYWALL_THIN_METER_ARTICLE_1_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[Vince Beiser](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/author\/vince-beiser\/)\n\n[Science](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/science)\n\nApr 27, 2018 7:00 AM\n# Fukushima’s Other Big Problem: A Million Tons of Radioactive Water\n\nMore than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks.\n\n![Image may contain Construction Crane and Building](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/5ae21883f34de631fa11fd85\/3:2\/w_2560%2Cc_limit\/WIRED_FUKASHIMA_DAIICHI_005.jpg)\n\nIrradiated tanks of water at Fukushima Daiichi plant.Spencer Lowell\n\nSave this story\n\nSave this story\n\nThe tsunami-driven seawater that engulfed Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has long since receded. But plant officials are still struggling to cope with another dangerous flood: the enormous amounts of radioactive water the crippled facility generates each day. More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks—and so far, there’s no plan to deal with them.\n\nThe earthquake and tsunami that hammered Fukushima on March 11, 2011 [triggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2011\/03\/earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-plant\/). That left messes of intensely radioactive fuel somewhere loose in the reactor buildings—though [no one knows exactly where](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fukushima-robot-cleanup\/). What is known, however, is that every day, as much as much as 150 tons of groundwater percolates into the reactors through cracks in their foundations, becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes in the process.\n\n### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\n\nTo keep that water from leaking into the ground or the Pacific, [Tepco](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/03\/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation\/), the giant utility that owns the plant, pumps it out and runs it through a massive filtering system housed in a building the size of a small aircraft hangar. Inside are arrays of seven-foot tall stainless steel tubes, filled with sand grain-like particles that perform a process called ion exchange. The particles grab on to ions of cesium, strontium, and other dangerous isotopes in the water, making room for them by spitting out sodium. The highly toxic sludge created as a byproduct is stored elsewhere on the site in thousands of sealed canisters.\n\n![Image may contain Building Factory and Refinery](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/5ae21875ac24911d41d7477d\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/WIRED_FUKUSHIMA_DAIICHI_050.jpg)\n\nSpencer Lowell\n\nThis technology has improved since the catastrophe. The first filtering systems, installed just weeks after the disaster by California-based Kurion Inc. (which has since been bought by Veolia, a French resource management company), only caught cesium, a strong gamma radiation emitter that makes it the most dangerous of the isotopes in the water. The tubes in those arrays were filled with highly modified grains of naturally occurring volcanic minerals called zeolites. By 2013, the company developed entirely artificial particles—a form of titano silicate—that also grab strontium.\n\nTrending Now\n\n[Meet the Robots on a Quest to Clean Up Fukushima](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/video\/watch\/meet-the-robots-on-a-quest-to-clean-up-fukushima)\n\nThe filters, however, don’t catch tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. That’s a much trickier task. Cesium and strontium atoms go into solution with the water, like sugar in tea; but tritium can bond with oxygen just like regular hydrogen, rendering the water molecules themselves radioactive. “It’s one thing to separate cesium from water, but how do you separate water from water?” asks John Raymont, Kurion’s founder and now president of Veolia’s nuclear solutions group. The company claims to have developed a system that can do the job, but Tepco has so far balked at the multi-billion dollar cost.\n\nSo for now, the tritiated water is pumped into a steadily growing collection of tanks. There are already hundreds of them, and Tepco has to start building a new one every four days.\n\nTepco has at least reduced the water’s inflow. As much as 400 tons per day was gushing in just a couple of years ago. In an effort to keep the groundwater from getting in, Tepco has built a network of pumps, and in 2016 installed an underground “ice wall”—a \\$300 million subterranean fence of 30-yard-long rods through which tons of sub-zero brine is pumped, freezing the surrounding earth. All of which helps, but hasn’t solved the problem.\n\nMost Popular\n\n- [![Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69dd120fd5415cb89341a838\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/meta-ray-ban-oakley-smart-glasses-no-face-recognition-civil-society\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  Artificial Intelligence\n  \n  [Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/meta-ray-ban-oakley-smart-glasses-no-face-recognition-civil-society\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Dell Cameron\n- [![The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d9793c27ad448072aa787f\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  Business\n  \n  [The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Kate Knibbs\n- [![Staunch Trump Supporters Are Now Asking if He’s the Antichrist](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d83e91a6b1cf7dff37c069\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/staunch-trump-supporters-are-now-asking-if-hes-the-antichrist\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  Politics\n  \n  [Staunch Trump Supporters Are Now Asking if He’s the Antichrist](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/staunch-trump-supporters-are-now-asking-if-hes-the-antichrist\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Makena Kelly\n- [![A Lot of Shops Won't Fix Electric Bikes. Here's Why](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d931c00318a0f74a550c2d\/1:1\/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-is-it-so-hard-to-fix-an-electric-bike\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  Gear\n  \n  [A Lot of Shops Won't Fix Electric Bikes. Here's Why](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-is-it-so-hard-to-fix-an-electric-bike\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2)\n  \n  By Stephanie Pearson\n\nTritium is far less dangerous than cesium—it emits a weaker, lower-energy form of radiation. Still, all that tritiated water can’t just be stored indefinitely. “Some of those tanks and pipes will eventually fail. It’s inevitable,” says Dale Klein, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has been consulting with Tepco since the early days following the disaster. (In fact, hundreds of tons of water leaked out of the tanks in 2013 and 2014, sparking an international outcry. Tepco has since improved their design.)\n\nKlein, among others, believes that the concentrations of tritium are low enough that the water can safely be released into the sea. “They should dilute and dispose of it,” he says. “It would be better to have a controlled release than an accidental one.”\n\nBut the notion of dumping tons of radioactive water into the ocean is understandably a tough sell. Whatever faith the Japanese public had left in Tepco took a further beating in the first couple of years after the meltdowns, when several investigations forced the company to acknowledge they had underreported the amount of radiation released during and after the disaster. Japan’s fishing industry raises a ruckus whenever the idea of dumping the tritiated water is broached; they already have to contend with import restrictions imposed by neighboring countries worried about eating contaminated fish. Japan’s neighbors including China, Korea, and Taiwan have also objected.\n\nFor now, all Tepco can do is keep building tanks, and hope that someone comes up with a solution before they run out of room—or the next earthquake hits.\n\nRadioactive Response\n\n- Humans still can't locate the hundreds of tons of fuel inside the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011—but [maybe robots can](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fukushima-robot-cleanup\/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories).\n- Cancer rates spiked after Fukushima, but [you shouldn't necessarily blame the radiation](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/03\/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation\/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories).\n- But nuclear energy still carries major risks: [Do they outweigh the benefits](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/04\/nuclear-power-safe-save-world-climate-change\/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories) in a rapidly warming world?\n\n[Vince Beiser](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/author\/vince-beiser\/) (@vincebeiser) is the author of The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization. His last feature for WIRED was about deep-sea mining. ... [Read More](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/author\/vince-beiser)\n\nContributor\n\nTopics[tsunami](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/tsunami\/)[radiation](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/radiation\/)\n\n### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\n\nRead More\n\n[![Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69b967163d7bc629bb6ef27c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/get-ready-for-a-year-of-chaotic-weather-in-the-us\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/get-ready-for-a-year-of-chaotic-weather-in-the-us\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nA massive Western heat wave and a potential El Niño event raise concerns about a long stretch of unpredictable and extreme weather.\n\nMolly Taft\n\n[![Marine Animals in the Strait of Hormuz Don’t Get a Ceasefire](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69dd05f668f51d0b7f425afa\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/marine-animals-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-dont-get-a-ceasefire\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Marine Animals in the Strait of Hormuz Don’t Get a Ceasefire](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/marine-animals-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-dont-get-a-ceasefire\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAs ships return to the Strait of Hormuz, mines, sonar, and congestion continue to reshape the Gulf beneath the surface.\n\nEvangeline Elsa\n\n[![The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69cfc8e8eb0352c3f10a93a3\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-trajectory-of-the-artemis-ii-moon-mission-is-a-feat-of-engineering\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-trajectory-of-the-artemis-ii-moon-mission-is-a-feat-of-engineering\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe astronauts will arrive about 10,300 kilometers beyond our satellite, breaking all previous records for distance from Earth. But how was their route chosen?\n\nLuca Nardi\n\n[![The US Military’s GPS Software Is an \\$8 Billion Mess](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69cbface4423e18d6fcaca64\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-us-militarys-gps-software-is-an-8-billion-mess\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[The US Military’s GPS Software Is an \\$8 Billion Mess](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/the-us-militarys-gps-software-is-an-8-billion-mess\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System was due for completion in 2016. Ten years later, the software for controlling the military’s GPS satellites still doesn’t work.\n\nStephen Clark, Ars Technica\n\n[![Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69cffdb3640c23d3efe3532c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/snake-bros-antivenom-index-zoos-influencers-chris-gifford\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/snake-bros-antivenom-index-zoos-influencers-chris-gifford\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nYour venomous serpent bites you, and the clock is ticking. America’s zookeepers—and a cooler full of rare antivenom—are your best chance of survival.\n\nClaire McNear\n\n[![Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c6b32db2e9941fa7bff508\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nCompanies hope that biometric age-verification tech in cartridges could put flavored vapes back in business. But it's unlikely to solve the real problems.\n\nBoone Ashworth\n\n[![Anduril Wants to Own the Future of War Tech. Mishaps, Delays, and Challenges Abound](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c2bfbc5854d831d24bbc07\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/andurils-real-war-is-with-itself\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Anduril Wants to Own the Future of War Tech. Mishaps, Delays, and Challenges Abound](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/andurils-real-war-is-with-itself\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nFrom drones to missiles to submarines, the \\$30.5 billion defense startup wants to transform how the tools of war are made. It’s not all going as planned.\n\nParesh Dave\n\n[![Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69d3b6e624732acbbf30e93c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/artemis-ii-everything-we-know-as-orion-approaches-the-far-side-of-the-moon\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/artemis-ii-everything-we-know-as-orion-approaches-the-far-side-of-the-moon\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nArtemis II remains on course for its lunar flyby as the crew shares historic photos of Earth, tests key systems for future lunar missions, and attempts to fix the toilet.\n\nJavier Carbajal\n\n[![Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c421794ff31d9d83686f80\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nIn a letter sent Thursday morning, Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley press the Energy Information Agency to mandate annual electricity disclosure for data centers.\n\nMolly Taft\n\n[![Arm’s CEO Insists the Market Needs His New CPU. It Could Piss Everyone Off](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c2ef3f0355f9e1ff2fd1e1\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/arms-ceo-insists-the-market-needs-his-new-cpu-it-could-piss-everyone-off\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Arm’s CEO Insists the Market Needs His New CPU. It Could Piss Everyone Off](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/arms-ceo-insists-the-market-needs-his-new-cpu-it-could-piss-everyone-off\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nArm just confirmed the rumors: It’s producing its own chip for the first time. CEO Rene Haas explains why this won’t alienate the many chipmakers who license the company’s designs.\n\nLauren Goode\n\n[![A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow 'Organ Sacks' to Replace Animal Testing](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69bd923f33c22df804229607\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/a-billionaire-backed-startup-wants-to-grow-organ-sacks-to-replace-animal-testing\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow 'Organ Sacks' to Replace Animal Testing](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/a-billionaire-backed-startup-wants-to-grow-organ-sacks-to-replace-animal-testing\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nR3 Bio has a bold idea for replacing lab animals: genetically-engineered whole organ systems that lack a brain. The long-term goal, says a cofounder, is to make human versions.\n\nEmily Mullin\n\n[![Livestream Replay: The War Machine](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/69c164d14feccf956a49751c\/16:9\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/livestream-the-war-machine\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[Livestream Replay: The War Machine](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/livestream-the-war-machine\/#intcid=_wired-article-bottom-recirc_e163bc59-b70b-4f68-9133-e4e74d40f883_roberta-similarity1)\n\nA panel of WIRED experts dissected the defense tech industry’s impact on modern warfare.\n\nTim Marchman\n\n[![ZOOM IN \\<br\\> Insights at the intersection of technology, power, and culture \\<br\\> Subscribe today for only \\<del\\>\\$4\\<\/del\\> \\<strong\\>\\$2\/month\\<\/strong\\> and get access to exclusive benefits including \\<strong\\>5 all-new premium newsletters.\\<\/strong\\> \\<br\\> CTA:SUBSCRIBE](https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/686ea46a1d57bf34560db527\/original\/pass\/Wired_Zoom_Footer_Desktop_940x140_v2e.gif?format=original)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/v2\/offers\/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_FOOTER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA)\n\n[![WIRED](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/verso\/static\/wired-us\/assets\/logo-reverse.svg)](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/)\n\nWIRED is obsessed with what comes next. Through rigorous investigations and game-changing reporting, we tell stories that don’t just reflect the moment—they help create it. When you look back in 10, 20, even 50 years, WIRED will be the publication that led the story of the present, mapped the people, products, and ideas defining it, and explained how those forces forged the future. WIRED: For Future Reference.\n\nMore From WIRED\n\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/subscribe\/)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/newsletter?sourceCode=HeaderAndFooter)\n- [Livestreams](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/livestreams)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/travel\/)\n- [FAQ](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/faq\/)\n- [WIRED Staff](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/wired-staff\/)\n- [WIRED Education](https:\/\/www.wirededucation.com\/)\n- [Editorial Standards](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/wired-on-background-policy\/)\n- [Archive](https:\/\/archive.wired.com\/t\/storefront\/storefront)\n- [RSS](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/rss-feeds\/)\n- [Site Map](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/sitemap\/)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/accessibility-help\/)\n\nReviews and Guides\n\n- [Reviews](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/)\n- [Buying Guides](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/category\/gear\/buying-guides\/)\n- [Streaming Guides](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/culture-guides\/)\n- [Wearables](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/wearables\/)\n- [Coupons](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/coupons\/)\n- [Gift Guides](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/gift-guides\/)\n\n- [Advertise](https:\/\/www.condenast.com\/brands\/wired)\n- [Contact Us](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/feedback\/)\n- [Manage Account](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/account\/profile)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/wired-jobs\/)\n- [Press Center](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/about\/press\/)\n- [Condé Nast Store](https:\/\/condenaststore.com\/)\n- [User Agreement](https:\/\/www.condenast.com\/user-agreement\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](http:\/\/www.condenast.com\/privacy-policy#privacypolicy)\n- [Your California Privacy Rights](http:\/\/www.condenast.com\/privacy-policy#privacypolicy-california)\n\n© 2026 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. *WIRED* may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. [Ad Choices](http:\/\/www.aboutads.info\/)\n\n###### Select international site\nUnited States\n\n- [Italia](https:\/\/www.wired.it\/)\n- [Japón](https:\/\/wired.jp\/)\n- [Czech Republic & Slovakia](https:\/\/www.wired.cz\/)\n\nYour Privacy Choices","attrs_readable_markdown":"The tsunami-driven seawater that engulfed Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has long since receded. But plant officials are still struggling to cope with another dangerous flood: the enormous amounts of radioactive water the crippled facility generates each day. More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks—and so far, there’s no plan to deal with them.\n\nThe earthquake and tsunami that hammered Fukushima on March 11, 2011 [triggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2011\/03\/earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-plant\/). That left messes of intensely radioactive fuel somewhere loose in the reactor buildings—though [no one knows exactly where](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fukushima-robot-cleanup\/). What is known, however, is that every day, as much as much as 150 tons of groundwater percolates into the reactors through cracks in their foundations, becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes in the process.\n\n### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works\nYour weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more.\n\nTo keep that water from leaking into the ground or the Pacific, [Tepco](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/03\/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation\/), the giant utility that owns the plant, pumps it out and runs it through a massive filtering system housed in a building the size of a small aircraft hangar. Inside are arrays of seven-foot tall stainless steel tubes, filled with sand grain-like particles that perform a process called ion exchange. The particles grab on to ions of cesium, strontium, and other dangerous isotopes in the water, making room for them by spitting out sodium. The highly toxic sludge created as a byproduct is stored elsewhere on the site in thousands of sealed canisters.\n\n![Image may contain Building Factory and Refinery](https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/5ae21875ac24911d41d7477d\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/WIRED_FUKUSHIMA_DAIICHI_050.jpg)\n\nSpencer Lowell\n\nThis technology has improved since the catastrophe. The first filtering systems, installed just weeks after the disaster by California-based Kurion Inc. (which has since been bought by Veolia, a French resource management company), only caught cesium, a strong gamma radiation emitter that makes it the most dangerous of the isotopes in the water. The tubes in those arrays were filled with highly modified grains of naturally occurring volcanic minerals called zeolites. By 2013, the company developed entirely artificial particles—a form of titano silicate—that also grab strontium.\n\nThe filters, however, don’t catch tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. That’s a much trickier task. Cesium and strontium atoms go into solution with the water, like sugar in tea; but tritium can bond with oxygen just like regular hydrogen, rendering the water molecules themselves radioactive. “It’s one thing to separate cesium from water, but how do you separate water from water?” asks John Raymont, Kurion’s founder and now president of Veolia’s nuclear solutions group. The company claims to have developed a system that can do the job, but Tepco has so far balked at the multi-billion dollar cost.\n\nSo for now, the tritiated water is pumped into a steadily growing collection of tanks. There are already hundreds of them, and Tepco has to start building a new one every four days.\n\nTepco has at least reduced the water’s inflow. As much as 400 tons per day was gushing in just a couple of years ago. In an effort to keep the groundwater from getting in, Tepco has built a network of pumps, and in 2016 installed an underground “ice wall”—a \\$300 million subterranean fence of 30-yard-long rods through which tons of sub-zero brine is pumped, freezing the surrounding earth. All of which helps, but hasn’t solved the problem.\n\nMost Popular\n\nTritium is far less dangerous than cesium—it emits a weaker, lower-energy form of radiation. Still, all that tritiated water can’t just be stored indefinitely. “Some of those tanks and pipes will eventually fail. It’s inevitable,” says Dale Klein, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has been consulting with Tepco since the early days following the disaster. (In fact, hundreds of tons of water leaked out of the tanks in 2013 and 2014, sparking an international outcry. Tepco has since improved their design.)\n\nKlein, among others, believes that the concentrations of tritium are low enough that the water can safely be released into the sea. “They should dilute and dispose of it,” he says. “It would be better to have a controlled release than an accidental one.”\n\nBut the notion of dumping tons of radioactive water into the ocean is understandably a tough sell. Whatever faith the Japanese public had left in Tepco took a further beating in the first couple of years after the meltdowns, when several investigations forced the company to acknowledge they had underreported the amount of radiation released during and after the disaster. Japan’s fishing industry raises a ruckus whenever the idea of dumping the tritiated water is broached; they already have to contend with import restrictions imposed by neighboring countries worried about eating contaminated fish. Japan’s neighbors including China, Korea, and Taiwan have also objected.\n\nFor now, all Tepco can do is keep building tanks, and hope that someone comes up with a solution before they run out of room—or the next earthquake hits.\n\nRadioactive Response\n\n- Humans still can't locate the hundreds of tons of fuel inside the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011—but [maybe robots can](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fukushima-robot-cleanup\/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories).\n- Cancer rates spiked after Fukushima, but [you shouldn't necessarily blame the radiation](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/03\/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation\/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories).\n- But nuclear energy still carries major risks: [Do they outweigh the benefits](https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/04\/nuclear-power-safe-save-world-climate-change\/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories) in a rapidly warming world?","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	The tsunami-driven seawater that engulfed Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has long since receded. But plant officials are still struggling to cope with another dangerous flood: the enormous amounts of radioactive water the crippled facility generates each day. More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks—and so far, there’s no plan to deal with them. The earthquake and tsunami that hammered Fukushima on March 11, 2011 triggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors . That left messes of intensely radioactive fuel somewhere loose in the reactor buildings—though no one knows exactly where . What is known, however, is that every day, as much as much as 150 tons of groundwater percolates into the reactors through cracks in their foundations, becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes in the process. WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. To keep that water from leaking into the ground or the Pacific, Tepco , the giant utility that owns the plant, pumps it out and runs it through a massive filtering system housed in a building the size of a small aircraft hangar. Inside are arrays of seven-foot tall stainless steel tubes, filled with sand grain-like particles that perform a process called ion exchange. The particles grab on to ions of cesium, strontium, and other dangerous isotopes in the water, making room for them by spitting out sodium. The highly toxic sludge created as a byproduct is stored elsewhere on the site in thousands of sealed canisters. Spencer Lowell This technology has improved since the catastrophe. The first filtering systems, installed just weeks after the disaster by California-based Kurion Inc. (which has since been bought by Veolia, a French resource management company), only caught cesium, a strong gamma radiation emitter that makes it the most dangerous of the isotopes in the water. The tubes in those arrays were filled with highly modified grains of naturally occurring volcanic minerals called zeolites. By 2013, the company developed entirely artificial particles—a form of titano silicate—that also grab strontium. The filters, however, don’t catch tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. That’s a much trickier task. Cesium and strontium atoms go into solution with the water, like sugar in tea; but tritium can bond with oxygen just like regular hydrogen, rendering the water molecules themselves radioactive. “It’s one thing to separate cesium from water, but how do you separate water from water?” asks John Raymont, Kurion’s founder and now president of Veolia’s nuclear solutions group. The company claims to have developed a system that can do the job, but Tepco has so far balked at the multi-billion dollar cost. So for now, the tritiated water is pumped into a steadily growing collection of tanks. There are already hundreds of them, and Tepco has to start building a new one every four days. Tepco has at least reduced the water’s inflow. As much as 400 tons per day was gushing in just a couple of years ago. In an effort to keep the groundwater from getting in, Tepco has built a network of pumps, and in 2016 installed an underground “ice wall”—a $300 million subterranean fence of 30-yard-long rods through which tons of sub-zero brine is pumped, freezing the surrounding earth. All of which helps, but hasn’t solved the problem. Most Popular Tritium is far less dangerous than cesium—it emits a weaker, lower-energy form of radiation. Still, all that tritiated water can’t just be stored indefinitely. “Some of those tanks and pipes will eventually fail. It’s inevitable,” says Dale Klein, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has been consulting with Tepco since the early days following the disaster. (In fact, hundreds of tons of water leaked out of the tanks in 2013 and 2014, sparking an international outcry. Tepco has since improved their design.) Klein, among others, believes that the concentrations of tritium are low enough that the water can safely be released into the sea. “They should dilute and dispose of it,” he says. “It would be better to have a controlled release than an accidental one.” But the notion of dumping tons of radioactive water into the ocean is understandably a tough sell. Whatever faith the Japanese public had left in Tepco took a further beating in the first couple of years after the meltdowns, when several investigations forced the company to acknowledge they had underreported the amount of radiation released during and after the disaster. Japan’s fishing industry raises a ruckus whenever the idea of dumping the tritiated water is broached; they already have to contend with import restrictions imposed by neighboring countries worried about eating contaminated fish. Japan’s neighbors including China, Korea, and Taiwan have also objected. For now, all Tepco can do is keep building tanks, and hope that someone comes up with a solution before they run out of room—or the next earthquake hits. Radioactive Response Humans still can't locate the hundreds of tons of fuel inside the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011—but maybe robots can . Cancer rates spiked after Fukushima, but you shouldn't necessarily blame the radiation . But nuclear energy still carries major risks: Do they outweigh the benefits in a rapidly warming world?
Markdown	[Skip to main content](https://www.wired.com/story/fukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water/#main-content) [SECURITY](https://www.wired.com/category/security/) [POLITICS](https://www.wired.com/category/politics/) [THE BIG STORY](https://www.wired.com/category/big-story/) [BUSINESS](https://www.wired.com/category/business/) [SCIENCE](https://www.wired.com/category/science/) [CULTURE](https://www.wired.com/category/culture/) [REVIEWS](https://www.wired.com/category/gear/) [SUBSCRIBE](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Newsletters](https://www.wired.com/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav) [SUBSCRIBE](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_CTA_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Security](https://www.wired.com/category/security/) [Politics](https://www.wired.com/category/politics/) [The Big Story](https://www.wired.com/category/big-story/) [Business](https://www.wired.com/category/business/) [Science](https://www.wired.com/category/science/) [Culture](https://www.wired.com/category/culture/) [Reviews](https://www.wired.com/category/gear/) More [The Big Interview](https://www.wired.com/the-big-interview/)[Magazine](https://www.wired.com/magazine/)[Events](https://www.wired.com/tag/wired-events/)[WIRED Insider](https://www.wired.com/collection/wiredinsider/)[WIRED Consulting](https://www.wired.com/tag/wired-consulting/) [Newsletters](https://www.wired.com/newsletter?sourceCode=hamburgernav) [Podcasts](https://www.wired.com/podcasts/) [Video](https://www.wired.com/video/) [Livestreams](https://www.wired.com/livestreams) [Merch](https://shop.wired.com/) [Search](https://www.wired.com/search/) [Sign In](https://www.wired.com/auth/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Ffukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION) [START FREE TRIAL](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_JNY_WIR_GLOBAL_NAV_DRAWER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [![ZOOM IN \<br\> Subscribe today for only \<del\>\$4\</del\> \<strong\>\$2/month\</strong\> and get access to exclusive benefits including \<strong\>5 all-new premium newsletters.\</strong\> CTA:SUBSCRIBE](https://assets.bonappetit.com/photos/686ea38fcb59aaabef7a795d/original/pass/Wired_Zoom_Rollover_300x200_v2a_Shorter.gif?format=original)](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_NAV_ROLLOVER_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Sign In](https://www.wired.com/auth/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fstory%2Ffukushimas-other-big-problem-a-million-tons-of-radioactive-water%2F&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION) The intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to 5 all-new premium newsletters. [START FREE TRIAL](https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01035?source=Site_0_JNY_WIR_DESKTOP_PAYWALL_THIN_METER_ARTICLE_1_0_US_ACQ_NLI_QUICK_PAY_GENERIC_ZZ_PANELA) [Vince Beiser](https://www.wired.com/author/vince-beiser/) [Science](https://www.wired.com/category/science) Apr 27, 2018 7:00 AM # Fukushima’s Other Big Problem: A Million Tons of Radioactive Water More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks. ![Image may contain Construction Crane and Building](https://media.wired.com/photos/5ae21883f34de631fa11fd85/3:2/w_2560%2Cc_limit/WIRED_FUKASHIMA_DAIICHI_005.jpg) Irradiated tanks of water at Fukushima Daiichi plant.Spencer Lowell Save this story Save this story The tsunami-driven seawater that engulfed Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has long since receded. But plant officials are still struggling to cope with another dangerous flood: the enormous amounts of radioactive water the crippled facility generates each day. More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks—and so far, there’s no plan to deal with them. The earthquake and tsunami that hammered Fukushima on March 11, 2011 [triggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors](https://www.wired.com/2011/03/earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-plant/). That left messes of intensely radioactive fuel somewhere loose in the reactor buildings—though [no one knows exactly where](https://www.wired.com/story/fukushima-robot-cleanup/). What is known, however, is that every day, as much as much as 150 tons of groundwater percolates into the reactors through cracks in their foundations, becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes in the process. ### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. To keep that water from leaking into the ground or the Pacific, [Tepco](https://www.wired.com/2016/03/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation/), the giant utility that owns the plant, pumps it out and runs it through a massive filtering system housed in a building the size of a small aircraft hangar. Inside are arrays of seven-foot tall stainless steel tubes, filled with sand grain-like particles that perform a process called ion exchange. The particles grab on to ions of cesium, strontium, and other dangerous isotopes in the water, making room for them by spitting out sodium. The highly toxic sludge created as a byproduct is stored elsewhere on the site in thousands of sealed canisters. ![Image may contain Building Factory and Refinery](https://media.wired.com/photos/5ae21875ac24911d41d7477d/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/WIRED_FUKUSHIMA_DAIICHI_050.jpg) Spencer Lowell This technology has improved since the catastrophe. The first filtering systems, installed just weeks after the disaster by California-based Kurion Inc. (which has since been bought by Veolia, a French resource management company), only caught cesium, a strong gamma radiation emitter that makes it the most dangerous of the isotopes in the water. The tubes in those arrays were filled with highly modified grains of naturally occurring volcanic minerals called zeolites. By 2013, the company developed entirely artificial particles—a form of titano silicate—that also grab strontium. Trending Now [Meet the Robots on a Quest to Clean Up Fukushima](https://www.wired.com/video/watch/meet-the-robots-on-a-quest-to-clean-up-fukushima) The filters, however, don’t catch tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. That’s a much trickier task. Cesium and strontium atoms go into solution with the water, like sugar in tea; but tritium can bond with oxygen just like regular hydrogen, rendering the water molecules themselves radioactive. “It’s one thing to separate cesium from water, but how do you separate water from water?” asks John Raymont, Kurion’s founder and now president of Veolia’s nuclear solutions group. The company claims to have developed a system that can do the job, but Tepco has so far balked at the multi-billion dollar cost. So for now, the tritiated water is pumped into a steadily growing collection of tanks. There are already hundreds of them, and Tepco has to start building a new one every four days. Tepco has at least reduced the water’s inflow. As much as 400 tons per day was gushing in just a couple of years ago. In an effort to keep the groundwater from getting in, Tepco has built a network of pumps, and in 2016 installed an underground “ice wall”—a \$300 million subterranean fence of 30-yard-long rods through which tons of sub-zero brine is pumped, freezing the surrounding earth. All of which helps, but hasn’t solved the problem. Most Popular - [![Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators](https://media.wired.com/photos/69dd120fd5415cb89341a838/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-ray-ban-oakley-smart-glasses-no-face-recognition-civil-society/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) Artificial Intelligence [Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-ray-ban-oakley-smart-glasses-no-face-recognition-civil-society/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) By Dell Cameron - [![The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d9793c27ad448072aa787f/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) Business [The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril](https://www.wired.com/story/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) By Kate Knibbs - [![Staunch Trump Supporters Are Now Asking if He’s the Antichrist](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d83e91a6b1cf7dff37c069/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/staunch-trump-supporters-are-now-asking-if-hes-the-antichrist/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) Politics [Staunch Trump Supporters Are Now Asking if He’s the Antichrist](https://www.wired.com/story/staunch-trump-supporters-are-now-asking-if-hes-the-antichrist/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) By Makena Kelly - [![A Lot of Shops Won't Fix Electric Bikes. Here's Why](https://media.wired.com/photos/69d931c00318a0f74a550c2d/1:1/w_120%2Ch_120%2Cc_limit/undefined)](https://www.wired.com/story/why-is-it-so-hard-to-fix-an-electric-bike/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) Gear [A Lot of Shops Won't Fix Electric Bikes. Here's Why](https://www.wired.com/story/why-is-it-so-hard-to-fix-an-electric-bike/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_c25ca83b-9f2f-4971-99a2-5a95320e475f_popular4-2) By Stephanie Pearson Tritium is far less dangerous than cesium—it emits a weaker, lower-energy form of radiation. Still, all that tritiated water can’t just be stored indefinitely. “Some of those tanks and pipes will eventually fail. It’s inevitable,” says Dale Klein, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has been consulting with Tepco since the early days following the disaster. (In fact, hundreds of tons of water leaked out of the tanks in 2013 and 2014, sparking an international outcry. Tepco has since improved their design.) Klein, among others, believes that the concentrations of tritium are low enough that the water can safely be released into the sea. “They should dilute and dispose of it,” he says. “It would be better to have a controlled release than an accidental one.” But the notion of dumping tons of radioactive water into the ocean is understandably a tough sell. Whatever faith the Japanese public had left in Tepco took a further beating in the first couple of years after the meltdowns, when several investigations forced the company to acknowledge they had underreported the amount of radiation released during and after the disaster. Japan’s fishing industry raises a ruckus whenever the idea of dumping the tritiated water is broached; they already have to contend with import restrictions imposed by neighboring countries worried about eating contaminated fish. Japan’s neighbors including China, Korea, and Taiwan have also objected. For now, all Tepco can do is keep building tanks, and hope that someone comes up with a solution before they run out of room—or the next earthquake hits. Radioactive Response - Humans still can't locate the hundreds of tons of fuel inside the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011—but [maybe robots can](https://www.wired.com/story/fukushima-robot-cleanup/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories). - Cancer rates spiked after Fukushima, but [you shouldn't necessarily blame the radiation](https://www.wired.com/2016/03/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories). - But nuclear energy still carries major risks: [Do they outweigh the benefits](https://www.wired.com/2016/04/nuclear-power-safe-save-world-climate-change/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories) in a rapidly warming world? [Vince Beiser](https://www.wired.com/author/vince-beiser/) (@vincebeiser) is the author of The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization. His last feature for WIRED was about deep-sea mining. ... [Read More](https://www.wired.com/author/vince-beiser) Contributor Topics[tsunami](https://www.wired.com/tag/tsunami/)[radiation](https://www.wired.com/tag/radiation/) ### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. 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Readable Markdown	The tsunami-driven seawater that engulfed Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has long since receded. But plant officials are still struggling to cope with another dangerous flood: the enormous amounts of radioactive water the crippled facility generates each day. More than 1 million tons of radiation-laced water is already being kept on-site in an ever-expanding forest of hundreds of hulking steel tanks—and so far, there’s no plan to deal with them. The earthquake and tsunami that hammered Fukushima on March 11, 2011 [triggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors](https://www.wired.com/2011/03/earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-plant/). That left messes of intensely radioactive fuel somewhere loose in the reactor buildings—though [no one knows exactly where](https://www.wired.com/story/fukushima-robot-cleanup/). What is known, however, is that every day, as much as much as 150 tons of groundwater percolates into the reactors through cracks in their foundations, becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes in the process. ### WIRED's Guide to How the Universe Works Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, new scientific discoveries, and more. To keep that water from leaking into the ground or the Pacific, [Tepco](https://www.wired.com/2016/03/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation/), the giant utility that owns the plant, pumps it out and runs it through a massive filtering system housed in a building the size of a small aircraft hangar. Inside are arrays of seven-foot tall stainless steel tubes, filled with sand grain-like particles that perform a process called ion exchange. The particles grab on to ions of cesium, strontium, and other dangerous isotopes in the water, making room for them by spitting out sodium. The highly toxic sludge created as a byproduct is stored elsewhere on the site in thousands of sealed canisters. ![Image may contain Building Factory and Refinery](https://media.wired.com/photos/5ae21875ac24911d41d7477d/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/WIRED_FUKUSHIMA_DAIICHI_050.jpg) Spencer Lowell This technology has improved since the catastrophe. The first filtering systems, installed just weeks after the disaster by California-based Kurion Inc. (which has since been bought by Veolia, a French resource management company), only caught cesium, a strong gamma radiation emitter that makes it the most dangerous of the isotopes in the water. The tubes in those arrays were filled with highly modified grains of naturally occurring volcanic minerals called zeolites. By 2013, the company developed entirely artificial particles—a form of titano silicate—that also grab strontium. The filters, however, don’t catch tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. That’s a much trickier task. Cesium and strontium atoms go into solution with the water, like sugar in tea; but tritium can bond with oxygen just like regular hydrogen, rendering the water molecules themselves radioactive. “It’s one thing to separate cesium from water, but how do you separate water from water?” asks John Raymont, Kurion’s founder and now president of Veolia’s nuclear solutions group. The company claims to have developed a system that can do the job, but Tepco has so far balked at the multi-billion dollar cost. So for now, the tritiated water is pumped into a steadily growing collection of tanks. There are already hundreds of them, and Tepco has to start building a new one every four days. Tepco has at least reduced the water’s inflow. As much as 400 tons per day was gushing in just a couple of years ago. In an effort to keep the groundwater from getting in, Tepco has built a network of pumps, and in 2016 installed an underground “ice wall”—a \$300 million subterranean fence of 30-yard-long rods through which tons of sub-zero brine is pumped, freezing the surrounding earth. All of which helps, but hasn’t solved the problem. Most Popular Tritium is far less dangerous than cesium—it emits a weaker, lower-energy form of radiation. Still, all that tritiated water can’t just be stored indefinitely. “Some of those tanks and pipes will eventually fail. It’s inevitable,” says Dale Klein, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has been consulting with Tepco since the early days following the disaster. (In fact, hundreds of tons of water leaked out of the tanks in 2013 and 2014, sparking an international outcry. Tepco has since improved their design.) Klein, among others, believes that the concentrations of tritium are low enough that the water can safely be released into the sea. “They should dilute and dispose of it,” he says. “It would be better to have a controlled release than an accidental one.” But the notion of dumping tons of radioactive water into the ocean is understandably a tough sell. Whatever faith the Japanese public had left in Tepco took a further beating in the first couple of years after the meltdowns, when several investigations forced the company to acknowledge they had underreported the amount of radiation released during and after the disaster. Japan’s fishing industry raises a ruckus whenever the idea of dumping the tritiated water is broached; they already have to contend with import restrictions imposed by neighboring countries worried about eating contaminated fish. Japan’s neighbors including China, Korea, and Taiwan have also objected. For now, all Tepco can do is keep building tanks, and hope that someone comes up with a solution before they run out of room—or the next earthquake hits. Radioactive Response - Humans still can't locate the hundreds of tons of fuel inside the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011—but [maybe robots can](https://www.wired.com/story/fukushima-robot-cleanup/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories). - Cancer rates spiked after Fukushima, but [you shouldn't necessarily blame the radiation](https://www.wired.com/2016/03/cancer-rates-spiked-fukushima-dont-blame-radiation/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories). - But nuclear energy still carries major risks: [Do they outweigh the benefits](https://www.wired.com/2016/04/nuclear-power-safe-save-world-climate-change/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories) in a rapidly warming world?
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