Japan will release treated and radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea within two years

On Tuesday, the Japanese government decided to begin releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean within two years – an option that has been vehemently opposed by local fishermen and residents.

The decision, long speculated but delayed for years due to safety concerns and protests, came at a meeting of cabinet ministers who supported the Ocean’s release as the best option.

The accumulated water has been stored in tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged its reactors, contaminated its cooling water and began to leak.

Tokyo Electric Power, the plant operator, says its storage capacity will be full late next year.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the ocean release was the “most realistic” option and that water disposal was “inevitable” to shut down the Fukushima plant, which was expected to take decades.

TEPCO and government officials say that tritium, which is a harmless substance in small amounts, cannot be removed from the water, but that all other selected radionuclides can be reduced to their permissible levels. Some scientists say the long-term effect on marine life from exposure to low doses of such large amounts of water is unknown.

Under the master plan approved by the ministers, TEPCO will begin releasing water in approximately two years after building a facility in accordance with the safety requirements of the regulatory authority. She said the disposal of the water cannot be delayed further and is necessary to improve the environment around the plant so that residents can live there safely.

TEPCO says its water storage capacity of 1.37 million tons will be full by fall 2022. The area filled with storage tanks will also have to be liberated to build new facilities that will be necessary to remove molten fuel debris from within the reactors, a process that is expected to begin in the coming years.

In the decade following the tsunami, water intended to cool nuclear material was constantly seeping from damaged primary containment vessels into the basements of the reactor buildings.

To compensate for the loss, more water was pumped into the reactors to continue cooling the molten fuel. Water is also pumped and treated, part of it is recycled as cooling water, and the rest is stored in 1,020 tanks that now contain 1.25 million tons of radioactive water.

Economy and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kagiyama said those tanks that occupy a lot of space in the factory complex are in conflict with the safe and steady progress of decommissioning. In the event of another strong earthquake or tsunami, tanks could be damaged and leaked, the report said.

Describing the most realistic method of releasing water into the ocean, a government committee has discussed for nearly seven years how to dispose of the water without damaging Fukushima’s image, fisheries and other businesses. My report last year mentioned evaporation as an unwanted option.

The report says that about 70 percent of the water in the tanks exceeds the permissible discharge limits for pollution, but will be filtered again and diluted with sea water before it is released. According to a preliminary estimate, the gradual releases of the water will take around 30 years but will be completed before the plant is fully decommissioned.

The report said that Japan would abide by international rules for release, receive support from the International Atomic Energy Agency and others, and ensure data disclosure and transparency for the international community’s understanding.

China and South Korea raised serious concerns about water drainage and its potential impact.

The government has said it will do its utmost to support the local fisheries, and the report said TEPCO will compensate for the damage if it occurs despite those efforts.

Kagiyama is scheduled to visit Fukushima on Tuesday afternoon to meet with local township and fisheries officials to explain the decision. He said he would continue to make efforts to understand them over the next two years.

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