The main radioactive component of the wastewater is tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen.
Tritium forms when water is used as a coolant in nuclear reactors. It bonds with oxygen, forming tritiated water, which has the same chemical composition as normal water and cannot be filtered out. While some argue that ingestion of tritium is linked to cancer, especially in children and pregnant women, others note that it is the weakest decaying radioisotope and that the discharged levels are very low.
The radioactive half-life of tritium is 12.3 years. This means that in 12.3 years, half of the radioactive atoms in a sample of tritium will have decayed into helium-3.
Additionally, this has nothing to do with Trump. This has been in the courts for a few years. Basically NYS passed a law preventing the defunct indian point plant from dumping into the Hudson. Release of the water into the Hudson is an acceptable method to dispose of this waste water according to federal law.
US District Judge Kenneth Karas sided with company Holtec International over New York State in a ruling issued last week that reversed the 2023 “Save The Hudson” law which sought to prevent the company from muddying the Hudson’s waters.
Holtec sued the Empire State last year, arguing that only the federal government had the right to regulate discharge of the Indian Point plant’s nuclear waste, which amounted to the 45,000-gallon sum, The New York Times reported. The judge ruled that the 2023 state law “categorically precludes Holtec from utilizing a federally accepted method of disposal.”
Precious Tritium
By time this case is settled, the water will have no isotopes and may have just evaporated off.
A viable way to deal with the waste would be to put it in holding pools and let it evaporate, which would disperse the tritium into the atmosphere.
