Original title: Almost all filters of Fukushima nuclear sewage treatment equipment were damaged and TEPCO was approved again. Source: Chinanews.com
China News Service, September 14 reported that Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company recently stated that the filters of the nuclear sewage treatment equipment at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have suffered extensive damage, and 24 of the 25 filters have been damaged. Similar problems occurred in 2019, but Tepco did not analyze the cause and put forward countermeasures at that time, but continued operation after replacing parts. Japan’s Atomic Power Regulatory Commission severely criticized TEPCO on the 13th.
According to reports, in the nuclear sewage treatment facility (ALPS) of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, 24 of the 25 filters responsible for adsorbing radioactive substances in the exhaust gas were found to be broken. A similar problem occurred in 2019, when the inspection found that all 25 filters were damaged. But at that time, Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company did not determine the cause of the damage and did not disclose it to the outside world. It only continued to operate after replacing the parts.
According to the report, although TEPCO has not confirmed the environmental impact of the filter damage, it cannot deny that radioactive materials may have leaked into the building.
On the 13th, at the meeting of the Japan Atomic Power Regulatory Commission, member Nobuhiko Ban said that “except for the problem of filter damage, the most fundamental thing is the attitude of TEPCO” and strongly expressed criticism of TEPCO’s management attitude.
In this regard, Tepco said that it will analyze the reasons and discuss fundamental countermeasures. “If the cause was found out and countermeasures were taken two years ago, what is happening now will not happen, and we must reflect on it.”
On April 13, the Japanese government officially decided to filter and dilute the Fukushima nuclear sewage into the sea. The discharge time is expected to last 20 to 30 years. It is said that ALPS can remove 62 radioactive elements other than tritium in nuclear sewage. However, Japan’s decision to discharge pollutants into the sea was strongly opposed by residents of Fukushima Prefecture and the National Federation of Fisheries Trade Unions in Japan.