Detrimental secondary health effects after disasters and pandemics

Researchers from Osaka University showed an increase in major non-communicable diseases after the Fukushima disaster and COVID-19 outbreak

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OSAKA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: FIG. (A) CHANGE IN PREVALENCE OF DISEASES AFTER THE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER (FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE); (B) CHANGE IN PREVALENCE OF DISEASES AFTER THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK (THE WHOLE OF JAPAN). ERROR BARS REPRESENT 95% UNCERTAINTY INTERVALS. view more 

CREDIT: MICHIO MURAKAMI, SHUHEI NOMURA: ANNUAL PREVALENCE OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND IDENTIFICATION OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS FOLLOWING THE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION,2022,103471, HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1016/J.IJDRR.2022.103471.

Osaka, Japan - Disasters and pandemics can affect the physical and psychological health of the people involved even after the events have occurred. These effects can include non-communicable chronic diseases. Now, researchers at Osaka University have identified the similarities and differences in secondary health effects in people who have experienced disasters and pandemics.

After the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in Japan in 2011, non-communicable diseases have increased since that time. In a seven-year follow-up after the Fukushima disaster, a previous study revealed the age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in both evacuees and non-evacuees significantly increased. Similar concerns existed regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact on chronic illnesses. This meant many restrictions were implemented to ensure the safety and health of the people of Japan. To stop the spread of infection, people were encouraged to stay at home and work from home. Perhaps as a result of this, increased body weight among certain populations and mental disorders were observed.

In this study, the changes in the prevalence of diseases in Japan, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and mental disorders, before and after the Fukushima disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic were reviewed using a health insurance dataset over a long period of time. First, the changes in the prevalence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and mental disorders over nine years following the Fukushima disaster were analyzed. Second, the changes in prevalence before and after the COVID-19 pandemic were examined. Results were examined by age and sex to determine the most significantly affected groups.

Results of this study showed that the prevalence of all four diseases increased in Fukushima Prefecture after the Fukushima disaster and in the whole of Japan after the COVID-19 outbreak as well. The increased rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and mental disorders were higher in females aged 40-74 years after the Fukushima disaster. However, after the COVID-19 outbreak, the increase in prevalence rates of all four diseases was higher among males aged 0-39 years.

“This study has shed some light on identifying the vulnerable populations involved and assessing the secondary effect of disasters on the mental and physical health of these people” says lead author, Michio Murakami.

The importance of supporting secondary health effects after disasters and pandemics are now being recognized and can lead to improved post-disaster policies and recommendations that focus on health promotion and effective prevention strategies.

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The article, “Annual prevalence of non-communicable diseases and identification of vulnerable populations following the Fukushima disaster and COVID-19 pandemic,” was published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103471

About Osaka University

Osaka University was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and is now one of Japan's leading comprehensive universities with a broad disciplinary spectrum. This strength is coupled with a singular drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology with positive economic impacts. Its commitment to innovation has been recognized in Japan and around the world, being named Japan's most innovative university in 2015 (Reuters 2015 Top 100) and one of the most innovative institutions in the world in 2017 (Innovative Universities and the Nature Index Innovation 2017). Now, Osaka University is leveraging its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, sustainable development of society, and social transformation.

Website: https://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

DOI

10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103471 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Annual prevalence of non-communicable diseases and identification of vulnerable populations following the Fukushima disaster and COVID-19 pandemic

Residents and fishermen file a lawsuit demanding a halt to the release of Fukushima wastewater

MARI YAMAGUCHI
Fri, September 8, 2023 



 TV screen shows a news report on the release of the treated radioactive water of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Aug. 24, 2023, in Tokyo. Fishermen and residents of Fukushima and five other prefectures along Japan’s northeastern coast filed a lawsuit Friday, Sept. 8, demanding a halt to the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

(AP Photo/Norihiro Haruta, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Fishermen and residents of Fukushima and five other prefectures along Japan’s northeastern coast filed a lawsuit Friday demanding a halt to the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

In the lawsuit filed with Fukushima District Court, the 151 plaintiffs, two-thirds from Fukushima and the rest from Tokyo and four other prefectures, say the discharge damages the livelihoods of the fishing community and violates residents’ right to live peacefully, their lawyers said.

The release of the treated and diluted wastewater into the ocean, which began Aug. 24 and is expected to continue for several decades, is strongly opposed by fisheries groups that worry it will hurt the image of their catch even if it's safe.

Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant melted after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed its cooling systems. The plant continues to produce highly radioactive water which is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that cover much of the plant complex.

The government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the tanks need to be removed to allow the plant's decommissioning.

The plaintiffs are demanding the revocation of safety permits granted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for the wastewater's release and a halt to the discharge, lawyer Kenjiro Kitamura said.

The government and TEPCO say the treated water meets legally releasable levels and is further diluted by hundreds of times with seawater before being released into the sea. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which reviewed the release plan at Japan’s request, concluded that the release's impact on the environment, marine life and humans will be negligible.

“The intentional release to the sea is an intentional harmful act that adds to the (nuclear plant) accident," said another lawyer, Hiroyuki Kawai. He said the ocean is a public resource and it is unethical for a company to discharge wastewater into it.

TEPCO said it could not comment until it receives a copy of the lawsuit.

China banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response to the release, while Hong Kong and Macau suspended imports from 10 prefectures including Fukushima. Groups in South Korea have also condemned the discharge.

China is the biggest importer of Japanese seafood, and its ban has hit the industry hard.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a 20.7 billion yen ($141 million) emergency fund to help exporters hurt by the Chinese ban. The fund is in addition to 80 billion yen ($547 million) that the government previously allocated to support fisheries and seafood processing and combat reputational damage to Japanese products.

Kishida said while attending a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Indonesia that China’s ban contrasts sharply with a broad understanding of the release shown by many other countries.

China’s Concern About Nuclear Wastewater May Be More About Politics Than Science

Chad de Guzman

TIME
Fri, September 8, 2023 


Chinese newspapers report on the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific, describing the discharge as "extremely irresponsible" and "an atrocity," in Beijing on Aug. 30, 2023. Credit - Yomiuri Shimbun/AP

Have you considered that “man-tall crabs” or “Cthulu-esque octopuses” could emerge from the sea in 30 to 40 years? China is apparently upset that Japan hasn’t, according to a recent state media report.

In the last two weeks since Japan began releasing into the Pacific Ocean treated wastewater that had been used to cool the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was damaged by a tsunami in 2011, a seemingly coordinated campaign has been waged on social media and Chinese news media to vent outrage and hysteria about the dangers of radiation imposed by China’s neighbor to the east.

China isn’t the only critic of Japan’s discharge, but it is perhaps the loudest. China’s foreign ministry called Japan “a saboteur of the ecological system and polluter of the global marine environment.” And Chinese customs authorities banned all aquatic products coming from Japan since the wastewater release began on Aug. 24, despite being the biggest market for Japanese seafood exports before then. Reports of harassment of Japanese citizens in China soon followed.

In reality, most scientists agree that the health effects of the wastewater on the marine environment and consumers of seafood from the region are negligible. Some observers have even pointed out that similar discharges have been occurring for years by operators of nuclear power plants across the world—including in China.

After nuclear wastewater is treated, including the water released by Japan, typically what radioactive elements remain are tritium (a hydrogen isotope) and carbon-14, which are both already abundant in nature. The water is then diluted to an acceptable limit so as not to be harmful, though there is no common international standard. It’s then common practice to dispose of the treated water by releasing it into the ocean. TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima plant, dilutes wastewater to a radioactivity of around 15% the World Health Organization’s maximum level for drinking water.

TEPCO has pledged to release no more than 22 trillion becquerels—a unit of emitted radiation—of tritium per year. For reference, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California released liquid effluents containing around 95 trillion becquerels of tritium in 2022, and the Heysham B Power Station in England released about 396 trillion becquerels of tritium in 2019.

While the U.S. and the U.K. have supported Japan’s release plan as safe, as has the International Atomic Energy Agency, China has pressed forward with demonizing Japan. At the same time, the latest China Nuclear Energy Yearbook by the nonprofit non-governmental organization China Nuclear Energy Association shows that plants there have discharged water with much higher radioactivity levels in 2021, the last year for which data are available.

Not all of the numbers are decipherable, but at least 10 nuclear plants in China in just a year discharged liquid effluents containing more than 4.5 quadrillion becquerels of tritium—more than 200 times the self-imposed annual limit for Fukushima’s wastewater release.

When presented with charges of hypocrisy earlier this summer, Chinese officials denied that the situations are comparable. “In fact, there are essential differences between the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan and the normal liquid effluents from nuclear power plants worldwide,” the National Nuclear Safety Administration said in a statement. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also said during an August press briefing that “there is a fundamental difference between the nuclear-contaminated water that came into direct contact with the melted reactor cores in the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the water released by nuclear power plants in normal operation.”

That’s not necessarily true. A range of different radioactive isotopes can be present in nuclear wastewater before its treated, but after treatment, the ultimate risk posed by the tritium that remains is not actually affected by how the water was originally contaminated, says Jim Smith, a professor of environmental science at the University of Portsmouth who has extensively studied the impact of radioactive pollutants on the environment. “Basically, it's all been through reactors, or at least the tritium has come from reactors, and the other radionuclides come from reactors,” he tells TIME, “so I don't really see a difference.”

But if not for a legitimate concern for health and science, why else might Beijing be so determined to paint Japan as a villain? Some have speculated that the wastewater issue offers a politically convenient distraction for China, which is facing domestic turmoil—giving citizens something else to be angry about instead of the unexpectedly slow economic growth, record-high youth unemployment, dwindling resources for an aging public, and a real estate sector in crisis. China has already had an historically fractured relationship with Japan due to the latter’s past colonial rule of the former. And just this year, as the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China has continued to intensify, Tokyo has strengthened its military partnership with Washington.

China’s state media has even reckoned with questions about why it cares so much about this issue. “Some U.S. media outlets even claimed that China would be the last to be affected from the perspective of ocean circulation. So why is China stepping up?,” an anonymous source quoted in the Global Times asked, before credulously answering: “Because what China has been doing is for the sake of being responsible to humanity and the country really cares about environmental protection.”

—Koh Ewe contributed reporting.

Explainer | What to know about Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea

The plan to dump treated radioactive waste water from a nuclear plant into the sea has stirred debates in South Korea, and led to boycotts of Japanese goods in China

Japanese fishermen, whose livelihoods could be severely impacted, have also vehemently opposed the waste water disposal plan


Amy Sood

SCMP
29 Jun, 2023

Environmental activists denounce the Japanese government’s plan to start releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. Photo: AP

As Japan prepares to release treated radioactive waste water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, opposition to the controversial plan continues to simmer across the region.

The country’s nuclear regulator on Wednesday began a final inspection of the water which is currently stored in about 1,000 huge tanks. It will be filtered and diluted before being released through an underwater tunnel that stretches one kilometre into the ocean.

But while Tokyo has sought to do its due diligence – seeking approval from its domestic nuclear regulator and ensuring the water meets international safety standards – the venture continues to spark controversy.

A Greenpeace statement expressed concerns that the released radioactivity could alter human DNA, and Pacific Island nations have stated their worries that the move could contribute to nuclear contamination of the Blue Pacific.

The matter has also stirred debates in South Korea, and led to a consumer boycott of Japanese cosmetics in China.

Why the worry over Japan’s nuclear waste plan? France has done it ‘for decades’
21 Mar 2023

In Hong Kong, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said on Wednesday that if the discharge went ahead as planned, the city would immediately prohibit the import of aquatic products from the coastal prefectures in proximity to Fukushima and impose “stringent import control” on other such goods from elsewhere in Japan.

Local fishing communities in Fukushima are still suffering from bans on their produce, and many oppose the plan fearing reputational damage bringing financial losses to their business.

But the Japanese government maintains the water is safe, and is hoping to get a green light from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is set to release its final report on the safety of the Fukushima plan soon.

The United Nations and nuclear experts in Japan have also said the treated waste water poses no threat.

The science

A massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the Japanese coast in 2011 melted down three reactors at the Fukushima plant and killed thousands of people.

Twelve years later, the damaged reactor cores still need to be cooled with water. But space to store this liquid is running out.

According to Associated Press, the tanks containing the treated water will reach their capacity in 2024. Last month, the storage tanks reached 97 per cent capacity, prompting Japan to move ahead with its plan to filter, treat and dilute the contaminated water before discharging it into the Pacific Ocean this summer.

Under the plan spearheaded by the nuclear plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), more than 1.3 million tons of water will be gradually released over two to three decades.

That proposal, as well as the safety of the treated water, has been questioned. Liu Guangyuan, the Commissioner of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has argued that if the water is truly safe, it should be released off the coast of Japan rather than building a seabed tunnel to discharge it into the ocean.

I think there is an understandable perception that all radioactive materials are dangerous, particularly radioactive and liquid waste, but this is not the caseTony Irwin, nuclear engineer

The water is being treated on-site to remove most of its radioactive materials, but will still contain trace levels of tritium – a radioactive form of hydrogen that is difficult to separate from water. Scientists say there is no viable technology to remove the negligible concentrations of tritium from this volume of water.

“I think there is an understandable perception that all radioactive materials are dangerous, particularly radioactive and liquid waste, but this is not the case,” said Tony Irwin, an honorary associate professor at the Australian National University’s nuclear physics department.

Irwin pointed out that Japan is meeting international standards for safe levels of tritium, and is in fact choosing a conservative limit to release over a fairly long stretch of time.

‘I would be willing’: South Korean PM offers to drink treated Fukushima water
14 Jun 2023

“The Fukushima water discharge is not a unique event or without precedent, because nuclear power plants worldwide have been routinely discharging water containing tritium for over 60 years without harm to people or the environment.

“And in most of these cases, there is tritium at higher levels than what is planned with Fukushima,” he added.

Experts believe the real danger could be the continued storage of contaminated water in the event of a spill from another natural disaster or human error.

Tanks containing water from the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Photo: Reuters

Fishing communities


However, there are still concerns that certain dangerous radionuclides – like cobalt and strontium – might slip through the filtering and water treatment process. Many scientists and environmentalists have also said there is a lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of exposure to even low doses of tritium.

To this point – Irwin asserted that the independent inspection by the IAEA provides confidence that only water with safe levels of tritium will be discharged.

“Samples of the water were tested by Tepco and seven other independent labs [globally], and the results showed a high level of agreement that there was no additional radioactive nuclides at significant levels at all,” he said.

Japan must also continually monitor the water quality once it has been discharged into the sea, and invite independent bodies and scientists to do so too, experts added.

But Japanese fishermen – whose livelihoods could be severely impacted – have vehemently opposed the waste water disposal plan.

A member of an environmental group places signs symbolising the Fukushima nuclear disaster during a rally against Japan’s disposal of radioactive water, outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: EPA-EFE


The industry’s reputation suffered greatly following the 2011 nuclear disaster, when dozens of countries banned imports of produce from Fukushima and other nearby prefectures. The United States and the European Union only eased their restrictions in 2021.

“We cannot support the government’s stance that an ocean release is the only solution,” said Masanobu Sakamoto, president of JF Zengyoren, or the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, according to the Associated Press.

“Whether to release the water into the sea or not is a government decision, and in that case we want the government to fully take responsibility,” he added.

Tokyo has said that it will set up a fund to promote Fukushima seafood and provide compensation to fishermen in case sales fall due to safety concerns.

South Korean lawmaker challenges Japan officials to drink Fukushima water
16 May 2023

Diplomatic dilemmas

The issue has become a hot topic in the parliament of South Korea, Japan’s neighbour separated only by a body of water.

The country’s main opposition, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is seeking collective action with Pacific nations against the Japanese plan, but the government is seeking a more diplomatic approach – urging the public and the opposition to await the results of safety reviews.

The political divide comes as no surprise as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been trying to mend the country’s historically troubled relationship with Japan to deepen military ties.

In May, a 21-member South Korean delegation was welcomed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to visit the Fukushima plant to examine safety concerns.

Like in Japan, members of the ruling party are also making efforts to alleviate public concerns about produce safety in South Korea, visiting seafood markets and vowing to support businesses who fear a drop in sales.

Activists gather in Seoul to protest against a planned release of water from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. Photo: AFP

Opposition lawmakers, however, maintain that the ruling party is prioritising diplomatic relations over public safety.

In China, viral social media campaigns are spreading on Weibo and Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, with users listing Japanese brands and questioning their safety.

Major Japanese cosmetic company Shiseido saw its largest weekly stock plunge in nearly 10 months, and a 6.8 per cent drop in its shares, according to Bloomberg.

But some observers suggest this might be a short-lived phenomenon.

“I don’t think there will be a huge material impact in the long-term,” said Jeanie Chen, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar in Japan.

The outcry on social media might have some immediate impact on the sales of Japanese goods, but unless the Chinese government makes a strong line or bans the products, it will not be substantial, she added.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press

Fukushima residents worry nuclear plant’s wastewater release in a few weeks will be another setback

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is expected to start releasing treated radioactive wastewater into the sea within weeks. It’s unclear whether, or how, damaging that would be, but residents say they feel helpless.

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI
July 24, 2023

VIDEO

IWAKI, Japan (AP) — Beach season has started across Japan, which means seafood for holiday makers and good times for business owners. But in Fukushima, that may end soon.

Within weeks, the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is expected to start releasing treated radioactive wastewater into the sea, a highly contested plan still facing fierce protests in and outside Japan.

Residents worry that the water discharge, 12 years after the nuclear disaster, could deal another setback to Fukushima’s image and hurt their businesses and livelihoods.


AP gets a rare look at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant as it prepares to release radioactive water

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Japan defends neutrality of IAEA report on Fukushima water release plan as minister visits plant

“Without a healthy ocean, I cannot make a living.” said Yukinaga Suzuki, a 70-year-old innkeeper at Usuiso beach in Iwaki about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the plant. And the government has yet to announce when the water release will begin.

While officials say the possible impact would be limited to rumors, it’s not yet clear if it will be damaging to the local economy. Residents say they feel “shikataganai” — meaning helpless.

Suzuki has requested officials hold the plan at least until the swimming season ends in mid-August.

“If you ask me what I think about the water release, I’m against it. But there is nothing I can do to stop it as the government has one-sidedly crafted the plan and will release it anyway,” he said. “Releasing the water just as people are swimming at sea is totally out of line, even if there is no harm.”

The beach, he said, will be in the path of treated water traveling south on the Oyashio current from off the coast of Fukushima Daiichi. That’s where the cold Oyashio current meets the warm, northbound Kuroshio, making it a rich fishing ground.

The government and the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, have struggled to manage the massive amount of contaminated water accumulating since the 2011 nuclear disaster, and announced plans to release it to the ocean during the summer.

They say the plan is to treat the water, dilute it with more than a hundred times the seawater and then release it into the Pacific Ocean through an undersea tunnel. Doing so, they said, is safer than national and international standards require.

Suzuki is among those who are not fully convinced by the government’s awareness campaign that critics say only highlights safety. “We don’t know if it’s safe yet,” Suzuki said. “We just can’t tell until much later.”

The Usuiso area used to have more than a dozen family-run inns before the disaster. Now, Suzuki’s half-century old Suzukame, which he inherited from his parents 30 years ago, is the only one still in business after surviving the tsunami. He heads a safety committee for the area and operates its only beach house.

Suzuki says his inn guests won’t mention the water issue if they cancel their reservations and he would only have to guess. “I serve fresh local fish to my guests, and the beach house is for visitors to rest and chill out. The ocean is the source of my livelihood.”

The March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has since leaked continuously. The water is collected, filtered and stored in some 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

The government and TEPCO say the water must be removed to make room for the plant’s decommissioning, and to prevent accidental leaks from the tanks because much of the water is still contaminated and needs retreatment.

Katsumasa Okawa, who runs a seafood business in Iwaki, says those tanks containing contaminated water bother him more than the treated water release. He wants to have them removed as soon as possible, especially after seeing “immense” tanks occupying much of the plant complex during his visit few years ago.

An accidental leak would be “an ultimate strikeout ... It will cause actual damage, not reputation,” Okawa says. “I think the treated water release is unavoidable.” It’s eerie, he adds, to have to live near the damaged plant for decades.

Fukushima’s badly hit fisheries community, tourism and the economy are still recovering. The government has allocated 80 billion yen ($573 million) to support still-feeble fisheries and seafood processing and combat potential reputation damage from the water release.

His wife evacuated to her parents’ home in Yokohama, near Tokyo with their four children, but Okawa stayed in Iwaki to work on reopening the store. In July, 2011, Okawa resumed sale of fresh fish —but none from Fukushima.

Local fishing was returning to normal operation in 2021 when the government announced the water release plan.

Fukushima’s local catch today is still about one-fifth of its pre-disaster levels due to a decline in the fishing population and smaller catch sizes.

Japanese fishing organizations strongly opposed Fukushima’s water release, as they worry about further damage to the reputation of their seafood as they struggle to recover. Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, turning it a political and diplomatic issue. Hong Kong has vowed to ban the import of aquatic products from Fukushima and other Japanese prefectures if Tokyo discharges treated radioactive wastewater into the sea.

China plans to step up import restrictions and Hong Kong restaurants began switching menus to exclude Japanese seafood. Agricultural Minister Tetsuro Nomura acknowledged some fishery exports from Japan have been suspended at Chinese customs, and that Japan was urging Beijing to honor science.

“Our plan is scientific and safe, and it is most important to firmly convey that and gain understanding,” TEPCO official Tomohiko Mayuzumi told The Associated Press during its plant visit. Still, people have concerns and so a final decision on the timing of the release will be a “a political decision by the government,” he said.

Japan sought support from the International Atomic Energy Agency for transparency and credibility. IAEA’s final report, released this month and handed directly to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, concluded that the method meets international standards and its environmental and health impacts would be negligible. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said radioactivity in the water would be almost undetectable and there is no cross-border impact.

Scientists generally agree that environmental impact from the treated water would be negligible, but some call for more attention on dozens of low-dose radionuclides that remain in the water, saying data on their long-term effect on the environment and marine life is insufficient.

Radioactivity of the treated water is so low that once it hits the ocean it will quickly disperse and become almost undetectable, which makes pre-release sampling of the water important for data analysis, said University of Tokyo environmental chemistry professor Katsumi Shozugawa.

He said the release can be safely carried out and trusted “only if TEPCO strictly follows the procedures as planned.” Diligent sampling of the water, transparency and broader cross-checks — not just limited to IAEA and two labs commissioned by TEPCO and the government — is key to gaining trust, Shozugawa said.

Japanese officials characterize the treated water as a tritium issue, but it also contains dozens of other radionuclides that leaked from the damaged fuel. Though they are filtered to legally releasable levels and their environmental impact deemed minimal, they still require close scrutiny, experts say.

TEPCO and government officials say tritium is the only radionuclide inseparable from water and is being diluted to contain only a fraction of the national discharge cap, while experts say heavy dilution is needed to also sufficiently lower concentration of other radionuclides.

“If you ask their impact on the environment, honestly, we can only say we don’t know,” Shozugawa, referring to dozens of radionuclides whose leakage is not anticipated at normal reactors, he says. “But it is true that the lower the concentration, the smaller the environmental impact,” and the plan is presumably safe, he said.

The treated water is a less challenging task at the plant compared to the deadly radioactive melted debris that remain in the reactors, or the continuous, tiny leaks of radioactivity to the outside.

Shozugawa, who has been regularly measuring radioactivity of groundwater samples, fish and plants near Fukushima Daiichi plant since the disaster, says his 12 years of sampling work shows small amounts of radioactivity from the Fukushima Daiichi has continuously leaked into groundwater and the port at the plant. He says its potential impact on the ecosystem also requires closer attention than the controlled release of the treated water.

TEPCO denies new leaks from the reactors and attributes high cesium in fish sometimes caught inside the port to sediment contamination from initial leaks and a rainwater drainage.

A local fisheries cooperative executive Takayuki Yanai told a recent online event that forcing the water release without public support only triggers reputational damage and hurts Fukushima fisheries. “We don’t need additional burden to our recovery.”

“Public understanding is lacking because of distrust to the government and TEPCO,” he said. “The sense of safety only comes from trust.”

Fukushima region forges renewable future after nuclear disaster


A gleaming field of solar panels now lines a coastal stretch north of the stricken Fukushima plant

 (AFP/Philip FONG)

Etienne BALMER and Harumi OZAWA
Tue, 8 March 2022, 

Solar farms along tsunami-ravaged coastlines, green energy "micro-grids" and the experimental production of non-polluting hydrogen: 11 years after its nuclear nightmare, Japan's Fukushima region is investing in a renewable future.

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami on northeastern Japan, triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant and forcing mass evacuations over radiation fears.

One year later, Fukushima's regional government set a goal of meeting all its energy needs with renewable power by 2040, a policy intended to help residents "reclaim" the place they call home, officials say.

Substantial progress has been made, in part thanks to hefty financial support from the national government.

Renewables accounted for 43 percent of Fukushima's energy consumption in fiscal 2020, up from just 24 percent in 2011.

But obstacles remain, from the higher cost for consumers to lingering concern over contamination.

"A strong desire to never see a repeat of such an accident was the most important starting point" for the green energy drive, Noriaki Saito, energy director at the prefecture's planning department, told AFP.

A gleaming field of solar panels now lines a coastal stretch north of the stricken Fukushima plant, in a location once earmarked for the region's third nuclear power station, a project abandoned after the tsunami.

Power from the site, which was completed in 2020 and is as big as 25 football pitches, is used to make hydrogen -- a clean fuel when generated with renewable electricity, and one that Japan hopes will help it reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Fuel produced at the "Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field" in Namie has so far been used for small-scale purposes including at the Tokyo Olympics last year, and to refill locally run fuel-cell cars.

"In the near future, much more renewable energy will come to the grid" in Japan, said Eiji Ohira of NEDO, the public research body managing the facility.

The site aims eventually to draw renewable energy from the national grid on days when there is surplus production nationally, helping reduce wastage while generating new green hydrogen, he told AFP.

Fukushima region forges renewable future after nuclear disaster
John SAEKI

- 'Double-edged sword' -

The Fukushima region already had hydroelectric dams, but wind farms are appearing in its mountains, biomass power plants are being constructed and solar fields have sprung up on land abandoned after the tsunami.

Not everyone in the region has been won over, however.

Price is still a sticking point, according to Apollo Group, a small energy provider in Fukushima that has bolstered its renewable offerings in recent years.

The price of solar-generated electricity is "a little higher" than conventional power, said CEO Motoaki Sagara.

"When we explain this to our customers, they often say they prefer cheaper electricity. I feel like the understanding is still not there," he told AFP.

Public subsidies gave Apollo impetus to switch, but Sagara calls them a "double-edged sword", because businesses like his may come to rely on the cash and struggle without it.

- Micro-grids -

Another renewables project hoping to win over residents involves "micro-grids", where electricity is produced and consumed in the same place.

Katsurao, a small village near the Fukushima plant, was evacuated because of radioactive contamination between 2011 and 2016 and now has only 450 residents, less than a third of its former population.

A former rice field, used to store radioactive materials when workers conducted dangerous early decommissioning work, now hosts a solar farm whose electricity is routed directly to the village.

The project has been operational since 2020 and Seiichi Suzuki, vice-president of Katsurao Electric Power, calls the village Japan's "first autonomous community with a micro-grid".

"The villagers... expressed a strong desire to live with natural sources of energy" when they returned to their homes following lengthy evacuations, he said.

For now, the solar farm only covers 40 percent of the village's average yearly electricity needs, and the spectre of the nuclear disaster hangs over other projects.

Some residents oppose a planned biomass, or plant waste, power station, fearing it could produce radioactive emissions if material from still-contaminated parts of the region is used.

But the solar farm has helped Hideaki Ishii, a worker in a family-owned restaurant and grocery store in Katsurao, feel more secure in his home, he told AFP.

"When you use electricity created in the community, it's easier to see how it's generated," he said.

"I feel safer that way," he said, and "it's good for the environment".

etb-oh/kaf/sah/mtp/leg

The price of solar-generated electricity is "a little higher" than conventional power, 

said CEO Motoaki Sagara 

Seiichi Suzuki, vice-president of Katsurao Electric Power, calls the village 

Japan's "first autonomous community with a micro-grid" 

Fuel produced at the "Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field" 

in Namie has so far been used for small-scale purposes including at the Tokyo Olympics last year

Hideaki Ishii, a worker in a family-owned restaurant and grocery store in Katsurao 

PHOTOS BY  AFP/Philip FONG

 

Fukushima struggles on 10 years after devastating earthquake and tsunami

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Tokyo Olympics had been touted as a chance to showcase the recovery efforts in the region

Adrienne Arsenault · CBC News · Posted: Aug 06, 2021 

Inside Fukushima a decade after tsunami, nuclear disaster

8 days ago

8:26

Adrienne Arsenault visits Fukushima, Japan to see what life is like 10 years after the region was struck by an earthquake that set off a tsunami and nuclear disaster killing more than 18,000 people and displacing nearly half a million others. 8:26

When Tokyo bid for the Olympics in 2013, the healing of Fukushima and the country's Tohoku region was part of the pitch. A decade ago, northeastern Japan was rocked by the strongest earthquake in its recorded history. It triggered a tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people and left more than 2,500 missing.

When the 15-metre tsunami flooded the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, there were explosions and meltdowns. A contaminated cloud blew north and 150,000 people moved out of the way. 

Most haven't come back.

Japanese Olympic officials had wanted to use the Games to show confidence in the region's growth. The fresh flowers given to athletes at the medal ceremonies are from three prefectures affected by the disaster. Fukushima grew some of the food served in the athletes' village. The torch relay began there. The cauldron was lit with clean energy from the region.

It was a neat narrative constructed around a messier reality.

Nobuyoshi Ito has been measuring the radioactive properties in the food and soil in Iitate village for nearly a decade. (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)

"There has been no recovery. Saying it's under control is a lie," Nobuyoshi Ito said through an interpreter. Ito is a former computer engineer who retired to the village of Iitate, in Fukushima, a year before the disaster.

"Iitate had 6,500 people before the accident, but only 1,400 have returned. Where did the others go? It's only when those people have returned that you can say for the first time that things have recovered."

This sort of anger can feel odd coming from a man sitting in Iitate, given Ito never left. When the earthquake hit there wasn't much damage in Iitate, and it was outside the zone first thought to be at risk from the cloud of radioactive materials. So he stayed.

Then, a few weeks later, the government reevaluated. It declared Iitate was contaminated after all.

Testing vegetables and soil

Ito, who became an apprentice farmer after his career, started collecting soil samples from throughout the village, and growing potatoes in them — not to eat, but to test. He has been measuring the radioactive properties in the food and soil for nearly a decade, trying to determine what is and isn't safe to eat, and where it is and isn't safe to go.

He carries a handheld radiation dosimeter with him, constantly evaluating the atmospheric contamination. And despite the evacuation orders being rescinded in Fukushima, Ito says people — especially children — shouldn't return to his village.

"It will take 300 years to restore the village to its original state, and it will continue to emit radiation for 300 years," he said. "The question is, can we bring our children, our newborn children, to such a village?"

But not everyone feels that way.

Masaru Mizoguchi, a professor of agricultural and life sciences at the University of Tokyo, says produce grown in Fukushima prefecture is safe if done properly. (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)

Masaru Mizoguchi, a professor of agricultural and life sciences at the University of Tokyo, says he and others have learned to grow produce safely by consistently testing the soil and vegetables.

"I'm always surprised that all people don't believe that this kind of fruit or vegetables aren't safe," he said. "I am a scientist so I understand what occurs in the fields."

Dealing with the soil has been a priority for the Japanese government. When you drive through the region, you see fields of black bags, emerging like cruel crops on the landscape. They contain the contaminated vegetation and topsoil scraped away from areas near homes, public buildings and schools over the course of years.

Black bags containing radioactive soil can be found in many parts of Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan. (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)

There are millions of cubic metres of it. Unnervingly, some appear next to rice paddies. Japan's government has said that, by 2045, the soil will move to a permanent site outside of Fukushima prefecture. But so far, there's no word on where the toxic waste will go.

Ito continues to have his doubts about just how much the region has recovered.

"It's all lies and deceit, isn't it?" he said.

And if the Olympics were intended to offer the needed boost to reconstruction and confidence for all, it was a chance denied.

The shiny, freshly painted barriers built to guide the throngs of spectators outside the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium never got their Olympic moment. The people never came.

Those barriers were pulled down last week — the experience over, even before the Olympic cauldron goes out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adrienne Arsenault

Senior Correspondent

Emmy Award-winning journalist Adrienne Arsenault co-hosts The National. Her investigative work on security has seen her cross Canada and pursue stories across the globe. Since joining CBC in 1991, her postings have included Vancouver, Washington, Jerusalem and London.

Drone aims to examine Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor for the first time

About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the damaged Japanese reactors

Associated Press
Published February 28, 2024 

A small drone was flown inside a damaged reactor at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday to examine molten fuel debris.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant experienced a meltdown in three reactors following a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in March 2011.
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors.

A drone small enough to fit in one's hand flew inside one of the damaged reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Wednesday in hopes it can examine some of the molten fuel debris in areas where earlier robots failed to reach.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings also began releasing the fourth batch of the plant’s treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the sea Wednesday. The government and TEPCO, the plant's operator, say the water is safe and the process is being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but the discharges have faced strong opposition by fishing groups and a Chinese ban on Japanese seafood.

A magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant's power supply and cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt down. The government and TEPCO plan to remove the massive amount of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel that remains inside each reactor — a daunting decommissioning process that's been delayed for years and mired by technical hurdles and a lack of data.

JAPAN'S FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT LEAKED RADIOACTIVE WATER, OFFICIALS SAY

To help on data, a fleet of four drones were set to fly one at a time into the hardest-hit No. 1 reactor’s primary containment vessel. TEPCO plans to probe a new area Thursday.

This aerial view shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northern Japan, on Aug. 24, 2023. A drone small enough to fit in one's hand flew inside one of the damaged reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday in hopes it can examine some of the molten fuel debris in areas where earlier robots failed to reach. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

TEPCO has sent a number of probes — including a crawling robot and an underwater vehicle — inside each reactor but was hindered by debris, high radiation and the inability to navigate through the rubble, though they were able to gather some data. In 2015, the first robot to go inside got stuck on a grate.

Wednesday’s drone flight comes after months of preparations that began in July at a nearby mock facility.

The drones, each weighing 185 grams (6.5 ounces), are highly maneuverable and their blades hardly stir up dust, making them a popular model for factory safety checks. Each carries a front-loaded high-definition camera to send live video and higher-quality images to an operating room.

In part due to battery life, the drone investigation inside a reactor is limited to a 5-minute flight.

TEPCO officials said they plan to use the new data to develop technology for future probes as well as a process to remove the melted fuel from the reactor. The data will also be used in the investigation of how the 2011 meltdown occurred.


On Wednesday, two drones inspected the area around the exterior of the main structural support in the vessel, called the pedestal. Based on the images they transmitted, TEPCO officials decided to send the other two in Thursday.

The pedestal is directly under the reactor’s core. Officials hope to film the core’s bottom to find out how overheated fuel dripped there in 2011.

About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year cleanup target set by the government and TEPCO is overly optimistic. The damage in each reactor is different, and plans need to accommodate their conditions.

JAPAN TO RELEASE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR WASTEWATER INTO OCEAN ON THURSDAY

TEPCO's goal is to remove a small amount of melted debris from the least-damaged No. 2 reactor as a test case by the end of March by using a giant robotic arm. It was forced to delay due to difficulty removing a deposit blocking its entry.

As in the past three rounds of wastewater discharges which started in August, TEPCO plans to release 7,800 metric tons of the treated water through mid-March after diluting it with massive amounts of seawater and sampling it to make sure radioactivity is far below international standards.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday accused Japan of risking the whole world with "nuclear-contaminated water" and demanded it stop "this wrongdoing." Mao urged Japan to cooperate in an independent monitoring system with neighboring countries and other stakeholders.

Rahm Emanuel eats Fukushima fish amid nuclear wastewater panic
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visited a Fukushima coastal city to support the local fishing industry after China and South Korea raised the alarm over water discharge began from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. (SOURCE: Reuters)