![]() ![]() On July 4, 2023, the IAEA published its “ comprehensive report,” which concluded that the ALPS process is “consistent with relevant international safety standards” and that “the discharge of the treated water, as currently planned by Tepco, will have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”īut there are scientific arguments against TEPCO’s release plan. Besides, the Japanese government officially asked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct an independent review of the safety of the ALPS treated water release. The Japanese government and TEPCO argue that the whole operation satisfies both Japanese regulatory standards and international safety standards. TEPCO said the operation may last at least 30 years to discharge all “treated water.” TEPCO reported that the water being discharged during the first period was measured to have an index of 0.28, therefore satisfying regulatory standards. If this ratio is below one, it means the concentration of other radionuclides is below regulatory standards. To do this, TEPCO uses a simplified index, which corresponds to the sum of ratios of the concentration of each radioactive nuclides (excluding tritium) compared to regulatory standards. In addition to tritium, TEPCO must report that the concentration of all other radionuclides is below regulatory standards. ![]() This is much lower than the annual discharge target of 22 trillion Bq set before the Fukushima accident. TEPCO plans to discharge treated water three more times in 2023, and the total tritium discharge by the end of March 2024 is expected to reach about 5 trillion Bq. The first discharge happened over a period of 17 days and involved a total of 7,800 tons of treated water being released to the sea. To do that, the company’s plan is to dilute “treated water” with large amounts of sea water to reach a concentration of tritium of 190 Becquerel (Bq) per liter, which is much lower than the allowed concentration of 1,500 Bq per liter. TEPCO says it re-purifies the “treated water” to make sure the water satisfies regulatory standards before it is released to the sea. But the comparison of Fukushima’s “treated water” with other “tritiated water” released during the normal operation of other nuclear power plants can be misleading because the latter is not contaminated with other radioactive nuclides. It can’t be denied that “treated water” is not as pure as “tritiated water” because treated water may still contain other radioactive nuclides, albeit in small proportions. According to TEPCO, contaminated water generation declined from 540 cubic meters (m 3) per day in 2014 to 90 m 3 per day in 2022. Generation of “contaminated water” has been gradually declining due to various measures, such as pumping up water by sub-drains and the construction of impermeable, land-side frozen walls (see Figure 1). “Treated” or “contaminated” water? When underground water, including rainfall, passes through the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor site and is used to cool the melted fuel debris inside the reactors, it becomes contaminated with oil as well as many harmful radioactive nuclides, including cesium and strontium. To understand TEPCO’s decision and why this operation caused such a big controversy, one must explain what this “treated water” being released is, the scientific debates over this operation, and the underlying social and political issues. This is not the end of controversy over the release of “treated water.” Rather, it may be the beginning of what might be a long-lasting struggle where science meets politics and lack of public trust, both inside and outside of Japan. (TEPCO) announced that it has started discharging so-called “treated” and “diluted” water from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. On August 24, 2023, Japanese electric utility holding company Tokyo Electric Power Co.
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