Water tanks at the destroyed Fukushima plant. Source: Reuters // YouTube
On Thursday, Japan began its release of treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. This is the beginning of a wastewater disposal process that the Japanese government signed off on two years ago and was given a green light by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month.
In 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake created a massive tsunami that structurally damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and caused meltdowns in three reactors. Now, Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) cycles in water to keep fuel and debris cool, which creates roughly 34-thousand gallons of contaminated water daily, including groundwater and rain. This water is then pumped out and run through the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which removes most of the radioactive elements except for tritium. The water is finally stored in one of roughly 1,000 tanks at the site. However, officials say the treated water must now be released into the ocean to make room for new facilities needed in the plant’s decommissioning process.
According to Reuters, TEPCO said the release began at 1:03 p.m. local time and it had not identified any abnormalities. The first discharge will be around two-million gallons, or about three Olympic swimming pools of water, and take place over about 17 days. The water is pumped through an undersea tunnel and exits 0.6 miles off the coast. The release of the full amount of water, around 343 million gallons, is estimated to take about 30 years.
TEPCO released test results showing that water contained up to 63 becquerels (a unit of radioactivity) per liter, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per liter. The IAEA also released a statement saying its independent on-site analysis had confirmed the tritium concentration was far below the limit.
However, this did not stop China from announcing an immediate blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. Hong Kong and Macau also announced seafood bans on Japanese seafood imports from ten regions. South Korea has had a ban in place since 2013, which it will continue to keep in place.
In response, Tokyo has criticized China for spreading “scientifically unfounded claims” regarding the safety of the water release.
Meanwhile, there have been protests of the release both inside and outside of Japan. Japanese fishing groups have also voiced their opposition, due to concern about damage to their reputations from radiation fears.
“There are not going to be any health effects,” said Geraldine Thomas, former professor of molecular pathology at London’s Imperial College. “There is no scientific reason to ban imports of Japanese food whatsoever.”
