That metallic taste in your mouth? It could be brain damage.
People who surf near the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) are rumored to occasionally report a metallic taste in their mouth while surfing.
Southern California Edison (SCE), the owners of the shuttered nuke plant, use a system called “Dilute and Discharge,” to dump radioactive water from its spent nuclear fuel pools into the Pacific Ocean. The spent fuel pools contain radioactive spent fuel assemblies that are deadly for tens of thousands of years.
A metallic taste in the mouth is a symptom of radiation poisoning at a high dose. It is common in those who have gone through chemotherapy. Radiation has been known to alter the “taste sensation” from radiation to the taste buds. The metallic taste effect is caused by radiation induced brain damage.
One survivor of the accident at Three Mile Island said, “the air smelled like metal. It was overwhelming. I could taste metal in my mouth. It seemed as though every taste bud in my mouth could sense the smell.”
Another survivor recounts, “I experienced a metal taste and queasy stomach. I felt funny.”
Since surfers near the decommissioned power plant are reporting similar symptoms in San Onofre, it could mean that Edison could be dumping mass quantities of nuclear waste right by San Clemente’s Wheeler North Reef, an artificial reef that is struggling to take-off. The “cloudy water” diluted by Edison blocks the light from the kelp beds and damages the reef.
SCE spent over $40 million to attempt to compensate for the environmental damages by building the reef and replacing the kelp beds, but the reef has become too harsh of an environment for aquatic life to truly to thrive.
Find out WHEN Edison is dumping radioactive waste water into the Pacific.
You can click here to get a notice of the next scheduled dump of radiation into the Pacific Ocean at SONGS.
The public has the right to know when Edison dumps nuclear run-off from the SONGS spent fuel pools. That way, surfers and swimmers can choose to stay out of the water during the times this deadly waste is being “diluted and discharged.”
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This is disheartening. I love swimming in the ocean, and now I’m afraid to do that. Isn’t there some law to protect us from Edison deliberately (even diluted) dumping radiation into the ocean?
Federal law trumps State laws, and unless the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides to enforce the law, nothing will be done. Recently, SONGS, under pressure from the community, agreed to provide at least 24 hours notice before it “dilutes and discharges” irradiated water into the ocean. It is a step in the right direction.
A little bit of BS here. Water will act as a biological shield as hydrogen molecules will absorb radiation. So even if they were “discharging” radioactive water from pools into the ocean you would not taste metal, and I doubt they are. Spent fuel rod pools themselves you could actually swim in with no threat to yourself. The only way you would “taste metal” is If you were exposed to airborne radionuclides or hot ionizing radiation. Relax people, your imaginations and lack of knowledge is amazing here. So it goes with the fear and consumption nation we now live in.
David P: You are correct that water is an excellent shield for radiation, and it is true, you could probably swim in a spent fuel pool without dramatically shortening your life, but that’s only part of the story. The reason for this is that the SNF pools at SONGS are 65 feet deep, and the assemblies at SONGS (about 18 feet high) are more than 40 feet below the surface of the water. However, if you get to close to them, you will die almost instantly (see article at https://what-if.xkcd.com/29/ ). When Three Mile Island melted down, local victims tasted metal. In the event of a major radiation release at SONGS, local residents should be aware that if they taste metal, it is time to either get out, or get indoors.
Thee mile island was a minor release of radiation with no health impacts, “tasting metal” is something you’d see at Chernobyl, not TMI. By the time you taste metal, you’d be exposed to radiation far above the tripping point for alarms, you’d probably hear the siren before you noticed any symptoms.
Also if you guys are scared of a nuclear plant discharging clean water, you’d probably have a heart attack to see what fossil fuel plants put into it.
Dear “Rad Man,” I guess you need a history lesson. The radiation was so high that the Governor of Pennsylvania ordered an evacuation. Here’s a local newspaper’s account at https://bit.ly/3E8v08z
“Bob Hauser still remembers the metallic taste he got in his mouth while playing in the backyard with his two sons the afternoon of March 28, 1979.
“Tony (Hauser’s then-8-year-old son) was climbing a tree and he said, ‘My mouth tastes funny.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, what is that?’” said Hauser, now 69. “Take a 9-volt battery and stick it to your tongue. That’s the taste I had in my mouth.”
Unbeknown to Hauser at the time, a nuclear crisis was unfolding about three miles away from his Middletown, Dauphin County, home.
Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 reactor had partially melted down that morning, releasing dangerous radioactive gases into the atmosphere and triggering a panic that would grip the nation for days, prompt many Dauphin County residents to evacuate and change the nuclear power industry.