Japan will begin dumping more than a million tons of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The process, which will take decades, is part of the plan the Japanese government approved two years ago to dismantle the nuclear power plant destroyed by the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The Japanese government, backed by the International Energy Agency (IAEA), has pledged that it will take the necessary long-term measures to carry out the oil spill safely. However, the controversial project has met with strong opposition from local residents, particularly fishing cooperatives who fear their reputation will be tarnished, as well as neighboring countries and environmental groups.
“I asked TEPCO [el operador de la planta] quickly prepare to begin discharging the water according to the plan approved by the nuclear regulator. “I hope that the download will start on August 24, weather conditions permitting,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Tuesday.
All attention will now focus on the Futaba district of Fukushima Prefecture, where the now-defunct Daiichi plant is located. From there, 1.34 million tons of water – enough to fill 500 Olympic-size swimming pools – will be released as of Thursday, which was used to cool the reactor’s fuel rods after they melted during the accident.
Demonstrators against the water disaster from the nuclear power plant on Tuesday in Tokyo. FRANCK ROBICHON (EFE)
Previously, the heavily contaminated water the facility produces was filtered through an Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), a circuit that removes most of the radioactive elements except for tritium (a hydrogen isotope difficult to separate from water). , and is stored again in barrels. Given that it was not possible to continue collecting the water in the tanks installed on the premises of the power plant due to the lack of space, two years ago the Japanese government and TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) decided to gradually collect the water in the plant discharge the sea, through an underwater tunnel. Japan ensures that tritium levels are reduced to 1/40th of the concentration permitted by Japanese regulations, well below internationally approved levels.
The announcement of a date for the start of the process comes after months of deliberations and a day after Kishida met with the President of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations to gain his endorsement for the forthcoming release of the waters. Although the group’s opposition to the plan was confirmed, Tokyo reported that the proposal had found “a certain level of understanding” in the industry. “I promise that we will take full responsibility to ensure that the fish farming sector can continue to function normally, even if it will take decades,” the Japanese president said on Monday.
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“A Surprise Attack”
This Tuesday, workers in the coastal areas of Fukushima Prefecture criticized the decision, which they see as a “sneak attack”. “It’s like a plan to drain the water before public opposition erupts,” Takashi Nakajima, a supermarket owner, told Kyodo News Agency. “What is caught in the area will not be sold, the situation of 2012 will repeat itself,” he recalled, referring to the moment when fishing started in nearby waters after the nuclear accident.
Around 230 opponents of nuclear power gathered in front of the prime minister’s office in Tokyo this Tuesday to call on the government to “listen to the voices of fishermen”. “We don’t know how long the water disaster will last and future generations will be in debt,” Masashi Tani, director of the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, an NGO founded in 1955 that seeks an international ban on guns, told protesters. “The priority should be to find a concrete way to decommission nuclear reactors,” Tani was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
The opposition comes despite the fact that the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear regulatory agency, backed the plan on July 4th. The institution, which conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the Japanese project over a two-year period, concluded that the disposal method was “consistent with international safety standards”. In the report giving the green light to the project, the IAEA assured that the “gradual and controlled” discharges into the sea will have “negligible radioactive impacts” on humans and the environment. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture hopes to have results on the status of discharged water and fish in waters near the plant by early September.
The support of the IAEA was not enough for Greenpeace either. In a statement, the environmental group said the decision “disregards scientific evidence, violates the human rights of communities in Japan and the Pacific region, and violates international law of the sea.” Hisayo Takada, project manager for Japan, said the organization was “deeply disappointed and upset “.
The rejection increases
Opposition to the release of contaminated water has mounted in neighboring countries throughout the summer, with China being the most critical voice. On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin again criticized the Japanese government for “ignoring domestic and international opposition and the doubts expressed about the legitimacy, legality and safety of the dumping plan and the potential risks to the world.” Marine Environment and Human Health” and reiterated, as it has been since July, that this is a “persistent, selfish and irresponsible” decision.
“Once the polluted water enters the ocean, there is no way to recover it. “We call on Japan to take seriously the legitimate concerns of the Japanese people and the international community, stop making wrong decisions and abandon the plan,” Wang said. China has already banned imports of seafood from 10 Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima and Tokyo, the rest must pass radioactivity tests.
Although the plan has also met with strong protests in South Korea, Seoul’s recent study concluded that the project meets international standards, adding that it meets the IAEA’s assessment. For their part, the Pacific island nations are divided, as the US and France have both had nuclear tests in their own histories. Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka endorsed the IAEA report in a statement on Monday but acknowledged the issue was contentious in the region.
In a nationwide survey released two weeks ago by Japan’s Kyodo agency, 88.1% of respondents expressed concerns about the economic and image damage that water discharge could cause, while 81.9% said Tokyo’s statements were insufficient.
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