Massimo — an engineer on X that Elon Musk has publicly called “one of the best accounts on the platform” — reports that scientists have detected traces of nuclear activity in the West Philippine Sea. They found higher levels of a radioactive substance called iodine-129 in seawater samples from this area.
After testing 119 samples from different parts of Philippine waters, Massimo says that the scientists have discovered that iodine-129 levels in the West Philippine Sea were 1.5 to 1.7 times higher than in nearby regions. This isotope is almost always produced by human nuclear activities (like nuclear reactors or old weapons tests), so it acts as a clear sign of nuclear-related processes.
“Most likely, ocean currents carried it from the Yellow Sea area near China. There, nuclear fuel reprocessing plants and leftover contamination from Cold War-era nuclear tests probably released it into rivers and the ocean, and it traveled hundreds of miles to reach Philippine waters.”
“Good news,” says Massimo, is that “the levels are very low and pose no danger to people, fish, or the environment.”
This discovery shows how connected our oceans are and why countries need to work together to monitor and protect them. It’s also a great example of important scientific work being done right here in the Philippines.
Massimo has 4.2 million followers on X.
This particular post of his has garnered one million views.
