Debate continues on safety of planned release of contaminated water from Fukushima

Objective, science-based monitoring is key to safely transporting the planned release of treated but still radioactive water at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant, a key International Atomic Energy Agency official said Thursday.

A three-member IAEA team led by Lydie Evrard, head of the agency’s Department of Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Protection, is in Japan for a five-day visit for preliminary talks and a visit to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. , which went into crisis after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The team is preparing for the IAEA’s years of monitoring of the planned water discharge, which is expected to take decades. The water was once used to cool the plant’s reactors, but began to leak after the disaster.

The government and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, announced plans in April to begin releasing the water in the spring of 2023, so that hundreds of storage tanks can be removed at the plant to make room for others. facilities necessary for its dismantling.

The idea has been strongly rejected by fishermen, local residents and neighbors of Japan, including China and South Korea.

Japan has requested IAEA assistance to ensure that the discharge complies with safety standards and is understood by the international community.

Evrard said his team and the Japanese side discussed the data needed to compile a safe and transparent plan, as well as how to disseminate information to interested communities in Japan and abroad.

He said his team will “listen to all concerns expressed” and provide responses by conducting a “scientific review” conducted in an objective and transparent manner.

After another preparatory discussion next month, the IAEA will send an 11-member team of experts to Japan in December for a more comprehensive review of the project, which would include another visit to the plant, officials said.

That team will characterize the water to be released and assess the safety of the discharge process and its radiation impact on humans and the environment. They also plan to conduct water and seawater samples.

Evrard said the team will include diverse members from various countries, possibly including China and South Korea, for greater transparency and to address diverse points of view.

IAEA: Science, Key Objectivity for Fukushima Water Release. #Japan #Fukushima #nuclear

The contaminated water at the plant has been stored in some 1,000 tanks, which according to the plant’s operator, TEPCO, will reach capacity by the end of next year.

TEPCO plans to send the water through an underwater tunnel and discharge it from a location approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the coastal power plant after treating and diluting it with large amounts of seawater to bring it below the releasable limits. The plan still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Japan Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

Government and TEPCO officials say that tritium, which is not harmful in small amounts, cannot be removed from water, but all other isotopes selected for treatment can be reduced to safe levels. The controlled release of tritium from normal nuclear plants is a routine worldwide practice, officials say.

Reference-www.nationalobserver.com

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