The Japanese government has decided to release contaminated water used to cool reactors damaged by the Fukushima nuclear accident into the Pacific Ocean. This was announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, confirming the anticipations of recent days and despite the clear opposition of public opinion, the fishing industry, representatives of local agriculture. And also despite official protests from China and South Korea.
Suga met with executive members, including Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama, to formalize the decision, which comes exactly 10 years after the March 2011 catastrophe. Daily maintenance of the Fukushima Daiichi plant generates the equivalent of 140 tons of contaminated water while still containing tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. In these ten years, just over 1,000 tanks have accumulated in the area adjacent to the plant, equal to approximately 1.25 million tons of liquid.
The government’s decision came after the plant manager, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), announced that the tanks will reach maximum capacity by the summer of 2022. Protests against the spillage of water in the sea have been expressed in the past also from neighboring countries, including China and South Korea.
Tokyo has stressed the safety of the operation with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Aiea) according to which it is a process similar to the disposal of wastewater in nuclear plants in other parts of the world. Also, the operation shouldn’t start for a few years.
China, however, called the plan harmful to public health, accusing Tokyo of having decided to dispose of nuclear wastewater “without regard to internal and foreign doubts and concerns.” “An extremely irresponsible and seriously damaging approach to international public health and safety and the vital interests of the people of neighboring countries” because the ocean is “the common property of humanity” and the disposal of nuclear wastewater “is not just a internal question of Japan “.
In Seoul, Koo Yoon-cheol, head of South Korea’s Office for Government Policy Coordination, held an emergency meeting to discuss the country’s position and measures on the Japanese announcement: “The government expresses strong regret for the decision of the Tokyo government on the release of contaminated water “, explaining that” the necessary measures will be taken in line with the principle of keeping the South Korean people safe from the contaminated water of the Fukushima plant “.
For the United States, on the other hand, Japan “has been transparent about its decision” and “appears to have adopted an approach that complies with globally accepted nuclear safety standards”.
The triple disaster at Fukushima was triggered by the magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which caused the nuclear fuel to overheat, followed by the melting of the core inside the reactors, which was accompanied by explosions of hydrogen and emissions of radiation.