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Fukushima Starts Release of 2nd Batch of Radioactive Water

For the purpose of measuring the level of dilution, the mixture is kept in a pit known as a discharge vertical shaft….reports Asian Lite News

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant has begun the release of second batch of its treated and diluted water into the sea, NHK World reported.

Tokyo Electric on Tuesday started to prepare for the second round of water release by adding around 1,200 tonnes of saltwater to one tonne of purified water.

For the purpose of measuring the level of dilution, the mixture is kept in a pit known as a discharge vertical shaft.

The tritium level was determined to be between 63 and 87 becquerels per litre, significantly below both the utility’s own guideline of 1,500 becquerels and Japan’s environmental discharge requirement of 60,000 becquerels, according to Japan-based media publication, NHK World reported.

The second release began at 10:18 a.m (local time) today.

On August 24, Tokyo Electric Power Company began the first round after diluting the treated water to lower tritium to around one-seventh of the World Health Organization’s drinking water quality advisory limit.

As scheduled, the release was finished on September 11.

Within three kilometres of the facility, the seawater samples had a maximum tritium concentration of 10 becquerels per litre, which is much lower than the 700 becquerels required to cease the release.

This time, Tokyo Electric intends to release 7,800 tonnes of treated water over the course of 17 days from 10 tanks. The sum is the same as it was in the preliminary round, NHK World reported.

By the end of March, 40 tanks containing about 31,200 tonnes of treated water is expected to be discharged.

It was in August this year that the Japanese government had announced that it would begin discharging the water used to cool melted nuclear fuel at the plant that has been treated through a state-of-the-art liquid processing system capable of removing most radionuclides, except tritium.

In April 2021, Yoshihide Suga, Kishida’s predecessor, gave his approval for the water release into the Pacific Ocean “in about two years”.

While several European nations have relaxed import restrictions on Japanese food, China has instituted blanket radiation testing on its neighbour’s seafood exports in an apparent effort to persuade Tokyo to abandon its plan, causing diplomatic strain.

Beijing has been opposed to the proposed water discharge for years, refusing to adopt the pseudo-scientific term “treated” to minimise the dangers of the “nuclear-contaminated water,” according to Kyodo News.

Local fishermen in Japan have opposed the water release proposal because they fear it will further damage the reputation of their seafood goods.

Since the nuclear disaster, water has been stored at the site in more than a thousand tanks. It has been treated using an advanced liquid processing system, which is thought to be able to remove all radionuclides but tritium.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the facility’s operator, has asserted that the tanks are getting close to capacity and may approach their maximum as early as 2024 if the operator doesn’t start releasing the treated water. (ANI)

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Japan to start releasing Fukushima water on Thursday

A protestor from the environment activist group Green Korea United takes part in a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, in this file photo taken June 7, 2023, to voice the group's objection to Japan's decision to discharge radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.(Yonhap/IANS)

The announcement came despite opposition from fishermen and protests by China, which has already banned food shipments from several Japanese prefectures…reports Asian Lite News

Japan will begin releasing cooling water from the stricken Fukushima power plant on Thursday, 12 years after one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.

The announcement came despite opposition from fishermen and protests by China, which has already banned food shipments from several Japanese prefectures.

Japan insists the gradual release into the sea of the more than 500 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of water that has accumulated at the stricken nuclear plant is safe, a view backed by the UN atomic agency.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the start date on Tuesday, a day after talks with fishing industry representatives who are opposed, “if weather and sea conditions do not hinder it.”

The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant was knocked out by a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people in March 2011, with three of its reactors sent into meltdown.

Since then, operator TEPCO has collected 1.34 million tons of water used to cool what remains of the still highly radioactive reactors, mixed with groundwater and rain that has seeped in.

TEPCO says the water has been diluted and filtered to remove all radioactive substances except tritium, levels of which are far below dangerous levels.

This water will now be released into the ocean off Japan’s northeast coast at a maximum rate of 500,000 liters (132,000 US gallons) per day.

Environmental pressure group Greenpeace has said the filtration process is flawed and that an “immense” quantity of radioactive material will be dispersed into the sea over the coming decades.

Japan “has opted for a false solution — decades of deliberate radioactive pollution of the marine environment — during a time when the world’s oceans are already facing immense stress and pressures,” Greenpeace said Tuesday.

The UN atomic watchdog said in July that the release would have a “negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”

Many South Koreans are alarmed at the prospect of the release, staging demonstrations and even stocking up on sea salt because of fears of contamination.

But President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government, taking political risks at home, has sought to improve long-frosty relations with Japan and has not objected to the plan.

Yoon last week held a first-ever trilateral summit with Kishida and US President Joe Biden at Camp David, the three united by worries about China and North Korea.

China has accused Japan of treating the ocean like a “sewer,” banning imports of food from 10 Japanese prefectures even before the release and imposing strict radiation checks.

Hong Kong, an important market for Japanese seafood exports, has also threatened restrictions.

This has worried people involved in Japan’s fishing industry, just as business was beginning to recover more than a decade after the nuclear disaster.

“Nothing about the water release is beneficial to us,” third-generation fisherman Haruo Ono, 71, whose brother was killed in 2011, told AFP in Shinchimachi, 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of the nuclear plant.

James Brady from the Teneo risk consultancy said that while China’s safety concerns may be sincere, there was a distinct whiff of geopolitics and economic rivalry in its harsh reaction.

Naoya Sekiya from the University of Tokyo last year conducted a survey which found that 90 percent of people China and South Korea thought Fukushima food was “very dangerous” or “somewhat dangerous.”

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China imposes Japan food ban over Fukushima water release

China’s foreign ministry has cautioned against considering the IAEA report as a “green light” and highlighting potential health risks over the release of treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean, reports Asian Lite News

In response to Tokyo’s decision to release treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean from the Fukushima nuclear facility, China’s customs authority has announced a ban on food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved Japan’s plan, affirming its compliance with global standards.

However, China’s foreign ministry has expressed reservations, cautioning against considering the IAEA report as a “green light” and highlighting potential health risks.

To address safety concerns, China’s customs authority will enforce strict radiation testing on food imports from the remaining prefectures of Japan while implementing a complete ban on foodstuffs from the affected Fukushima region.

Slamming China for its criticism, Tokyo has accused Beijing and South Korea of discharging liquid waste containing high levels of tritium, a radioactive material, Kyodo News reported.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also said Japan will explain to China the planned water discharge into the sea from the nuclear complex, crippled by a devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami in March 2011, “based on scientific perspectives”.

Japan’s standard for the release of tritium, at below 22 trillion becquerels per year, is far stricter than that of other nations including its neighbours China and South Korea, Kyodo News quoted Matsuno, the top government spokesman as saying.

In 2021, the Yangjiang nuclear plant in China discharged around 112 trillion becquerels of tritium, while the Kori power station in South Korea released about 49 trillion becquerels of the radioactive material, Kyodo News reported citing Japan’s industry ministry.

IAEA chief faces protest in Seoul

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi arrived in South Korea on Saturday to explain the analysis of the UN watchdog’s safety review of Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Grossi was met by a group of angry protesters at Seoul’s Gimpo airport, Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday.

Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the airport’s VIP exit, with some of them loudly chanting slogans like “Grossi, go home”, “Oppose marine dumping” and “Leave Korea, Grossi”.

They occasionally clashed physically with the policemen who were positioned in front of the cordoned-off area.

After about two hours since his arrival, he successfully left the airport on Saturday, using another passage that went unnoticed by both the protesters and reporters.

Grossi flew in from Japan following the agency’s conclusion that Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the plant into the sea is consistent with international safety standards.

While in Japan, Grossi delivered the IAEA’s report on Tokyo’s water release plan to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The report was seen as a blessing for Japan’s planned water discharge, expected to begin in August.

It, however, prompted serious concerns in other countries, especially South Korea, where many believe the IAEA may have neglected or failed to verify the potential long-term impact of treated wastewater on people and the environment.

Ahead of his visit , the Seoul government said Japan’s plan to release contaminated water from the Fukushima plant would meet international standards, including those set by the IAEA, if carried out as planned.

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