Unit 3 and 4 reactor buildings and polluted water storage tanks on the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
Charly Triballeau | afp | Getty Images
The UN nuclear agency on Tuesday expressed support for Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, saying it meets international standards and that its impact on the environment and health can be negligible.
The plan is opposed by groups in South Korea, China and a few Pacific Island countries for security and political reasons. Local fishing organizations fear that their repute will suffer even when their catch isn’t contaminated.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, presented the ultimate assessment of the plan to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday.
The report is “a comprehensive, neutral, objective, scientifically based assessment,” Grossi said. “We’re very convinced of that.”
The report said the IAEA recognizes that the discharge “raised social, political and environmental concerns related to radiological facets.” Nonetheless, it said the currently planned water release “could have a negligible radiological impact on humans and the environment.”
The Japanese unloading plan and equipment are “in step with agreed international standards and their application,” Grossi said.
Dilution of treated but still barely radioactive wastewater for gradual release into the ocean is a proven method widely utilized in other countries, including China, South Korea, the USA and France, to remove water containing some radionuclides from nuclear power plants, he said.
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Much of Fukushima’s wastewater comprises cesium and other radionuclides, but these can be further filtered to bring them below international standards for all but tritium, which is inherent in water. It can then be diluted 100 times with sea water before being released.
But Haruhiko Terasawa, head of the Miyagi prefecture’s fisheries cooperatives, said they’d proceed to oppose the release until fears subsided.
“Treated water isn’t a difficulty that ends after a single or annual discharge, but it surely lasts so long as 30 to 40 years, so nobody can predict what might occur,” TV Asahi told TV.
Japan sought the support of the IAEA to gain credibility for the plan. Experts from UN agencies and 11 countries have made several trips to Japan since early 2022 to study the preparations of the federal government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company holdings.
Some scientists say the consequences of long-term exposure to low doses of radionuclides remain unknown and are calling for release to be delayed. Others say the discharge plan is protected but call for more transparency in sampling and monitoring.
Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said that Japan will proceed to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency, each at home and abroad.”
The huge earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 destroyed the cooling systems of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing three reactors to melt and cooling water to be contaminated and to leak constantly. Water is withdrawn, treated and stored in roughly 1,000 tanks on the plant, which can reach their capability in early 2024.
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The federal government and TEPCO say the water needs to be removed to prevent accidental spills and make room for the decommissioning of the damaged power plant.
Last Friday, Japanese regulators accomplished a final safety check of the equipment, and TEPCO is predicted to receive approval in about per week to begin phased drainage at a site 1 kilometer or 1,000 yards offshore through an undersea tunnel. The beginning date for the release, which is predicted to take many years, remains to be not set.
Grossi said the IAEA will proceed to monitor and evaluate the release.
During his four-day visit, Grossi may even visit the Fukushima power plant and meet TEPCO representatives, local fishing groups, mayors of nearby municipalities and other stakeholders.
“I think in transparency, I think in open dialogue and I think within the importance of the exercises we’re doing,” he said.
Grossi can be expected to visit South Korea, Recent Zealand and the Cook Islands after visiting Japan to ease concerns there.