The nuclear regulator Japan approved a plan to release more than a million tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima to the ocean, which caused the discomfort of China.
This project has been adopted by the government and supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the plant operator, Tepcoyou still have to convince local communities to go ahead.
The plan consists of gradually pouring into the Pacific Ocean more than one million tons of water contaminated with tritium, a radionuclide that cannot be eliminated by current technologies, but whose dilution in the sea is already practiced in Japan and abroad in operating nuclear facilities.
This tritiated water comes from rain, groundwater or water injections needed to cool the cores of various nuclear reactors Fukushima which were merged due to the tsunami of March 11, 2011.
More than a thousand tanks were installed around the plant to store this tritiated water following purification operations aimed at eliminating other radioactive substances. But the storage capacity will be saturated soon.
According to experts, the tritio It is only dangerous for humans in very concentrated doses, a situation a priori excluded in the event of a release into the sea over several decades, as Tepco foresees.
The IAEA he also believes that this project will be carried out “in full compliance with international standards” and that it “will not cause damage to the environment.”
Future plans
Tepco It plans to start operation in the spring of 2023, following the construction of a submarine conduit to transport tritiated water approximately one kilometer from the coast.
But the operator still has to get the prior authorizations from the department of Fukushima and the municipalities near the plant, while at the same time trying to allay the concerns of local fishermen, fearing negative consequences on the reputation of their fish among consumers.
The project was also criticized by its neighbors, China y South Koreaas well as by environmental organizations such as Greenpeace.
“If Japan continues to put its own interests above the general international interest, if it insists on taking (this) dangerous step, it will definitely pay the price for its irresponsible behavior and leave a stain on history,” the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Wenbin. (AFP)
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