Radioactive water to be released into sea
A Japanese government panel has roughly accepted a draft proposal for releasing into the sea massive amounts of radioactive water now being stored at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.
The economy and industry ministry’s draft proposal says releasing the water gradually into the sea is the safer, more feasible method, though evaporation is also a proven method used after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.
The proposal will be submitted to the government for further discussion to decide when and how the water should be released.
Nearly nine years after the 2011 meltdowns of three reactor cores at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant, it is a small step towards deciding what to do with the water, and follows expert recommendations.
It is meant to solve a growing problem for the plant’s operator, which is stuck between having limited storage space for the water and a rising backlash from the public and neighbouring countries.
Fishermen and residents fear possible health effects from releasing the radioactive water, as well as harm to the region’s image and fishing and farming industries.
The water has been treated, and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), says all 62 radioactive elements it contains can be removed to levels not harmful to humans, except for tritium.
TEPCO currently stores about 1.2 million tonnes of radioactive water, but only has space to hold up to 1.37 million tonnes.
The contaminated cooling water from damaged reactors, mixed with groundwater, has accumulated since the accident. It is constantly pumped up, treated and stored in tanks, while some of it is recycled as coolant.
The water in the tanks, however, is of a lesser concern compared to tonnes of extremely radioactive water in and around the melted and highly contaminated reactors. It is believed to be leaking to the sea or into groundwater, and poses far greater risks in case of a major quake or a disaster, some experts say.