The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved Japan's proposal to release over a million tons of treated nuclear water from the ruined Fukushima power plant into the ocean last month. Japan plans to start the release of the treated water this week.
Japan To Release Treated Radioactive Wastewater Into Ocean
Japan plans to start the discharge of cleaned radioactive wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility into the ocean this week, its government announced on Tuesday; despite the opposition from the locals Prime Minister Fumio Kishi stated the release will start on Thursday if weather and ocean circumstances permit. Kishida ensured fishermen could continue to make a living after the release during a visit to the destroyed nuclear facility on Sunday and a meeting with leaders of the Japanese fishing industry in Tokyo Monday.
The head of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, Masanobu Sakamoto, stated that even though many of his organization's members had come to trust the government's guarantees of the safety of the discharge, it remained opposed due to the potential effects on fishermen's livelihoods.
Over 1,000 sky-blue tanks are arranged straight on the plant's property to store the water. To cool melted fuel that is still too hot and hazardous to remove, Tokyo Electric (Tepco) pumps water through the devastated reactors.
Radioactive nuclides are accumulated in the water as it flows through the reactors. Tepco runs the water through a robust filtration system intended to remove all radioactive material aside from specific contaminants like tritium and hydrogen isotope, sometimes repeatedly.
In modest doses, tritium is not harmful to human health, according to experts, and removing it would be prohibitively expensive.
Similar techniques are used by other nuclear power stations worldwide, including those in China, South Korea, and the United States, to purify cooling water. After such filtration, the tritium-containing water is then released into the oceans.
Various Reactions to Japan's Plan About the Treated Nuclear Water
Some scientists are still uncertain about Japan's plan. Only 30% of the roughly 473,000 tons of water in the tanks have undergone complete treatment, leaving only tritium behind, according to Tepco's website.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's marine radiochemist Ken Buesseler said, "The idea is, 'just trust us,'" adding that he wanted to see more thorough assessments of what was still in the tanks, especially those that had previously had some treatment.
While tritium is one of the least deadly radioactive compounds, Dr. Buesseler claimed that other radioactive substances, such as cesium or cobalt, would be more destructive if discharged into the ocean.
He said the administration had not considered alternative solutions, such as adding more tanks or producing cement with treated water.
Dr. Buesseler speculated that the government wanted the "cheapest, fastest solution, which is a pipe in the ocean."
Professor of nuclear engineering at Tohoku University Kazuya Idemitsu expressed his confidence in the international agency's ability to monitor the water discharge and ensure that only tritium-containing water-and nothing else-will be piped into the ocean.
Water treated through Japan's filtration system is referred to as "purified" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and it has been said that any water released into the ocean will be "treated until it satisfies safety standards for all radioactive materials other than tritium."
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