Japan eyes delay of Fukushima plant water release
By MARI YAMAGUCHIJanuary 12, 2023
This aerial photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo, on March 17, 2022. Japan's government has revised the timing of a planned release to the sea of treated but still radioactive wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to “around spring or summer," indicating a delay from the initial target of this spring, factoring into the progress of a release tunnel and the need to gain public support.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has revised the timing of a planned release to the sea of treated but still radioactive wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to “around spring or summer,” indicating a delay from the initial target of this spring, after factoring in the progress of a release tunnel and the need to gain public support.
The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, announced in April 2021 a plan to begin releasing the treated wastewater into the sea starting in spring 2023. They say more than 1 million tons of water stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant are hampering its decommissioning and risk leaking in the event of a major earthquake or tsunami.
Under the current plan, TEPCO will transport the treated water through a pipeline from the tanks to a coastal facility, where it will be diluted with seawater and sent through an undersea tunnel, currently under construction, to an offshore outlet. The company has acknowledged the possibility of rough winter weather and sea conditions delaying the tunnel progress.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Friday the government has adopted a revised action plan, which includes enhanced efforts to ensure safety and measures to financially support the local fishing industry and a new release target of “around spring or summer this year.”
TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa said that despite the government’s new timing for the wastewater release, his company still aims to have the facility ready by the spring. He also acknowledged a lack of local understanding about the release and pledged to continue efforts to ease safety concerns.
A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation. Water used to cool the damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, has since leaked into the basements of the reactor buildings and has been collected, treated and stored in tanks.
The release plan has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, local residents and Japan’s neighbors, including China and South Korea. Fukushima residents worry the reputation of their agricultural and fishing products will be further damaged.
Most of the radioactivity is removed from the water during treatment, but tritium cannot be removed and low levels of some other radionuclides also remain. The government and TEPCO say the environmental and health impacts will be negligible as the water will be slowly released after further treatment and dilution by large amounts of seawater.
Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans is still unknown and the release plan should be delayed. They say tritium affects humans more when it is consumed in fish.
Japan is cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency to increase the safety, transparency and understanding of the water discharge plan. An IAEA team that visited Japan a number of times for talks and plant inspections last year will visit again in January to meet with nuclear regulators and will release a final report before the planned release begins.
Japan to start releasing treated water from Fukushima this year
Japan plans to start releasing more than a million tonnes of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean this year, a top government spokesman said Friday.
The plan has been endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the government will wait for "a comprehensive report" by the UN watchdog before the release, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.
Cooling systems at the plant were overwhelmed when a massive undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami in 2011, causing the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
Decommissioning work is under way and expected to take around four decades.
The site produced 100 cubic metres (3,500 cubic feet) of contaminated water each day on average in the April-November period last year—a combination of groundwater, seawater and rainwater that seeps into the area, and water used for cooling.
The water is filtered to remove various radionuclides and moved to storage tanks, with more than 1.3 million cubic metres on site already and space running out.
"We expect the timing of the release would be sometime during this spring or summer," after release facilities are completed and tested, and the IAEA's comprehensive report is released, Matsuno said.
"The government as a whole will make the utmost efforts to ensure safety and take preventive measures against bad rumours."
The comments are a reference to persistent concerns raised by neighbouring countries and local fishing communities about the release plan.
Fishermen in the region fear reputational damage from the release, after attempting for years to reestablish trust in their products through strict testing.
Plant operator TEPCO says the treated water meets national standards for radionuclide levels, except for one element, tritium, which experts say is only harmful to humans in large doses.
It plans to dilute the water to reduce tritium levels and release it offshore over several decades via a one-kilometre-long (0.6-mile) underwater pipe.
The IAEA has said the release meets international standards and "will not cause any harm to the environment".
Regional neighbours including China and South Korea, and groups such as Greenpeace, have criticised the plan.
The March 2011 disaster in northeast Japan left around 18,500 people dead or missing, with most killed by the tsunami.
Tens of thousands of residents around the Fukushima plant were ordered to evacuate their homes, or chose to do so.
Around 12 percent of the Fukushima region was once declared unsafe, but now no-go zones cover around two percent, although populations in many towns remain far lower than before.
© 2023 AFP
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