The discharge of wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan started on Thursday. This initial release is expected to last for about 17 days and will involve approximately 7,800 cubic meters of tritiated water. Japanese fishermen are concerned about the potential impact on the reputation of their products.
Engineers and technicians at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant started releasing wastewater into the sea on Thursday, August 24. Tokyo and international experts claim that this operation is safe, but it has been criticized, particularly by China. Pumps have been activated and valves have been opened to transport the water into the ocean, as shown in live video footage from the site broadcasted by Tepco, the operator of the plant. The water has been treated and heavily diluted, removing most of its radioactive substances, except for tritium, which is only dangerous in high concentrated doses.
Aerial picture of the water outside the Fukushima site released shortly after the discharge began
The discharge began at 1:00 PM local time (4:00 AM GMT), as announced in a statement by Tepco, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. This initial release is expected to last for about 17 days and will involve approximately 7,800 cubic meters of tritiated water from the plant, as stated by Tepco in an online presentation on Wednesday. The group plans to conduct three more discharges by the end of March next year, with volumes equivalent to the first release.
In total, Japan plans to discharge over 1.3 million cubic meters of stored wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. This wastewater has been accumulated from rainfall, groundwater, and the necessary injections to cool the melted reactor cores after the March 2011 tsunami that devastated the northeastern coast of the country.
Numerous precautions have been taken
This process will be very gradual, lasting until the 2050s, and the tritium content in the daily releases into the sea will not exceed 500 cubic meters. Japan plans to release this water with significant dilution, ensuring that its radioactivity level does not exceed 1,500 becquerels (Bq) per liter.
This level is 40 times lower than the Japanese national standard for tritiated water, which aligns with international standards (60,000 Bq/liter), and it is also approximately seven times lower than the limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water (10,000 Bq/liter).
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which oversees the discharge operation, gave its approval in July, stating that the project complies with “international safety standards” and will have a “negligible radiological impact on the population and the environment.”
Many see things differently
Japanese fishermen are primarily concerned about the impact on the reputation of their products. This impact is already being felt in their exports, as China banned imports of goods from ten Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, as early as July. Hong Kong and Macao have taken similar measures this week.
“The ocean is the property of all humanity, and it is not a place where Japan can arbitrarily release contaminated water,” criticized Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday.
However, the release of tritiated water into the sea is a common practice in the nuclear industry worldwide, and the annual level of radioactivity from these releases by Chinese nuclear power plants is much higher than what is expected at Fukushima Daiichi, according to Tokyo.
“This is a classic case where the perception of risk related to tritium is significantly higher than the actual risk it poses,” commented Tom Scott, an expert from the University of Bristol (England), this week. He also pointed out that tritium is naturally present in the upper atmosphere and in the oceans.
According to analysts, Beijing’s uncompromising position on Fukushima’s water is likely also related to the already tense Sino-Japanese relations on various economic and geopolitical issues. Other Asia-Pacific countries with better relations with Japan, such as South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Fiji, and the Cook Islands, have expressed their confidence in the safety of the controlled discharge process overseen by the IAEA.
With AFP.