TOKYO (AP) — Japan has revised the timing of a planned release to the ocean of treated but still radioactive wastewater on the Fukushima nuclear power plant to “around spring or summer,” indicating a delay from the initial goal of this spring, after factoring within the progress of a release tunnel and the necessity to achieve public support.
The federal government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, announced in April 2021 a plan to start releasing the treated wastewater into the ocean starting in spring 2023. They are saying greater than 1 million tons of water stored in about 1,000 tanks on the plant are hampering its decommissioning and risk leaking within the event of a significant earthquake or tsunami.
Under the present plan, TEPCO will transport the treated water through a pipeline from the tanks to a coastal facility, where it’s going to be diluted with seawater and sent through an undersea tunnel, currently under construction, to an offshore outlet. The corporate has acknowledged the potential for rough winter weather and sea conditions delaying the tunnel progress.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Friday the federal government has adopted a revised motion plan, which incorporates enhanced efforts to make sure safety and measures to financially support the local fishing industry and a recent release goal of “around spring or summer this yr.”
TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa said that despite the federal government’s recent timing for the wastewater release, his company still goals to have the ability ready by the spring. He also acknowledged an absence of local understanding concerning the release and pledged to proceed efforts to ease safety concerns.
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A large earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation. Water used to chill the damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, has since leaked into the basements of the reactor buildings and has been collected, treated and stored in tanks.
The discharge plan has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, local residents and Japan’s neighbors, including China and South Korea. Fukushima residents worry the fame of their agricultural and fishing products will probably be further damaged.
Many of the radioactivity is faraway from the water during treatment, but tritium can’t be removed and low levels of another radionuclides also remain. The federal government and TEPCO say the environmental and health impacts will probably be negligible because the water will probably be slowly released after further treatment and dilution by large amounts of seawater.
Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans continues to be unknown and the discharge plan ought to be delayed. They are saying tritium affects humans more when it’s consumed in fish.
Japan is cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency to extend the security, transparency and understanding of the water discharge plan. An IAEA team that visited Japan quite a lot of times for talks and plant inspections last yr will visit again in January to satisfy with nuclear regulators and can release a final report before the planned release begins.
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