More than twelve years after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, contaminated cooling water is to be disposed of after being filtered in the sea. Unlike Japan’s neighboring countries, the International Atomic Energy Agency now rated this as unproblematic.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Japan’s plan to dispose of filtered cooling water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the sea meets international standards. That said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in Tokyo. The planned release of the water would have “negligible” impacts on the environment such as seawater, fish and sediment.
Shortly beforehand, Grossi had presented Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with his agency’s final report on the plans to dump the contaminated water. The Japanese government will first study the IAEA’s assessment of its disposal plans before making a final decision on when to discharge the water into the sea. She wants to start disposing of it in the Pacific this summer.
The plan had already been approved by the IAEA at the end of May. According to its own statements, the Japanese government wanted to wait for the report from the UN organization before it was released.
1.3 million tons of contaminated water
As a result of the severe seaquake of March 11, 2011 and the subsequent tsunami, a super meltdown with core meltdowns occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. More than twelve years later, the destroyed reactors still have to be cooled with water. Due to infiltrating rainwater and groundwater, the amount of irradiated water is increasing every day. More than 1.3 million tons of it are now stored in around 1,000 tanks.
According to the nuclear power plant operator Tepco, the space for storing the water is running out. It should therefore be filtered through a tunnel that extends about one kilometer into the sea and disposed of diluted. However, the ALPS technical system cannot filter out the radioactive isotope tritium. According to Tepco and the IAEA, there is still no danger. The reason is the dilution of the water, and small amounts of tritium are harmless to humans and the environment. Experts point out that nuclear power plants all over the world have routinely discharged contaminated cooling water into the sea for decades.
China criticizes IAEA assessment
Local fishermen, who fear damage to their reputation and lost sales, are resisting Japan’s disposal plans. There are also concerns in countries like South Korea, China and New Zealand about possible environmental damage from dumping. South Korea fears that the dumping will have negative consequences for the marine environment and human health. The government in Seoul has so far emphasized that it intends to stick to the import ban on fishery products from Japan until people’s concerns about the discharge of contaminated water can be dispelled.
China rejected the IAEA’s assessment of the water’s disposal. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing that the report does not allow Japan to discharge the water. It also does not prove that dumping is the safest and most reliable option. The spokeswoman spoke before the report was presented by IAEA boss Grossi in Tokyo.
She urged Japan not to dump Fukushima cooling water into the ocean, to study other plans, to dispose of it “scientifically and safely” while accepting strict international monitoring. Japan has limited the IAEA’s investigations from the start by not studying other disposal plans, the spokeswoman said. The report cannot prove the legality of the project.