Fukushima nuclear plant to start releasing treated radioactive water into the sea
TOKYO — Japan will start releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as early as Thursday — a controversial step the government says is essential for the decades of work needed to shut down the facility, which had reactor meltdowns 12 years ago.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead Tuesday at a meeting of Cabinet ministers involved in the plan and instructed the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, or TEPCO, to be ready to start the coastal release Thursday if weather and sea conditions permit.
Kishida said at the meeting that the release of the water was essential for the progress of the plant’s decommissioning and the Fukushima prefecture’s recovery from the March 11, 2011, disaster, which followed a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami.
He said the government had done everything to ensure the plan’s safety, protect the reputation of Japan’s fishing industry and clearly explain the scientific basis for the move. He pledged that the government would continue those efforts until the end of the release and decommissioning, which will take decades.
“The government will take responsibility until the disposal of [treated] water is completed, even if it takes several decades,” Kishida said.
In Seoul, Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Korea’s Office for Government Policy Coordination, said officials had confirmed that Japan would discharge the wastewater in line with Tokyo’s initial plan.
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If it does not stick to the plan, Park said, South Korea will request Japan to immediately stop the discharge, which could harm South Koreans. Opposition lawmakers in Seoul and activists demanded that Japan immediately scrap the plan.
Hong Kong and Macao announced that they would ban products from Fukushima and nine other prefectures in response to Tokyo’s announcement Tuesday, while China has stepped up radiation testing on Japanese fisheries products, delaying customs clearance.
The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, causing three of its reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water. The water, now amounting to 1.34 million tons, is collected, filtered and stored in about 1,000 tanks, which fill much of the plant’s grounds and will reach their capacity in early 2024.
The release of the treated wastewater has faced strong opposition from Japanese fishing organizations, which worry about further damage to the reputation of their catches as they struggle to recover from the nuclear disaster. Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, turning it into a political and diplomatic issue.
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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.
Junichi Matsumoto, the TEPCO executive in charge of the water release, said in an interview with the Associated Press last month that the water release would mark “a milestone” but was still only an initial step in a daunting decommissioning process.
The government and TEPCO say the water will be treated and then diluted with seawater to levels safer than international standards.
TEPCO plans to release 7,800 tons of treated water in the 17-day first round of the release, Matsumoto said, adding that the idea is to pace the release and minimize environmental impact. The company aims to release 31,200 tons of the treated water by the end of March 2024, which would empty only 10 tanks at the site. The pace will pick up later.
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Seawater and marine life will be tested, and the results will be disclosed on government and TEPCO websites.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, in a final report in July, concluded that the release, if conducted as designed, would cause negligible impact on the environment and human health. After taking into account possible bio-concentration of low-dose radionuclides that still remain in the water, the environmental and health impact would still be negligible, TEPCO officials said.
On Tuesday, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement that the United Nations agency’s office at the plant, which opened in July, would continue monitoring the water release so that it adheres to safety standards and would publish real-time monitoring data and other information.
Scientists generally support the IAEA view, but some say the long-term impact of the low-dose radioactivity that remains in the water needs attention.
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Kishida’s government has stepped up outreach efforts to explain the plan to neighboring countries, especially South Korea, to keep the issue from interfering with their relationships.
TEPCO said it was working toward accepting applications for damages caused by China’s export restrictions on Japanese seafood.
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