December 04, 2022 at 22:38 PM
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan.
[Chinanews.com]According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, Tokyo Electric Power Company will soon suspend the excavation of the submarine tunnel used for the discharge of nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The start of sea discharge “around next spring” that the Japanese government and TEPCO are competing for is likely to be postponed until after summer.
TEPCO fully launched the nuclear sewage discharge equipment project in August this year. As of December 2, it has excavated about 780 meters on the seabed, and will temporarily suspend work when it reaches about 800 meters.
According to reports, although about 80% of the 1-kilometer tunnel has been excavated, priority needs to be given to projects around the discharge outlet. The time to restart excavation will be around April next year,
During this period, concrete and other reinforcement works will be carried out around the concrete “caisson” installed at the exit of the offshore subsea tunnel. It is expected to take about 4 months, but it may be delayed depending on weather and wave conditions. Taking advantage of the downtime, work on the inner wall of the shaft that injects treated water during discharge will also be carried out earlier.
It is reported that around April next year when the two projects are completed, the excavation of the tunnel will be restarted, and the remaining 200 meters will be completed in 2 to 3 months. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of northeastern Japan and triggered a massive tsunami. Affected by both the earthquake and the tsunami, a large amount of radioactive material leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. On April 13, 2021, the Japanese government formally decided to filter and dilute the Fukushima nuclear sewage and discharge it into the sea. However, this decision was widely questioned and opposed by the international community, and it also aroused strong concerns in Japan.