Tritium detected above the lower detection limit at two locations
“Lower limit of detection, ‘smallest value’… “It’s not an abnormal situation.”
Regarding the safety of the secondary discharge of contaminated water from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, which ends on the 23rd, the government said, “To resolve public concerns, we are sending inquiries to the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others regarding the concentration of tritium detected during the secondary discharge period to obtain more detailed information. “He said.
Park Gu-yeon, First Deputy Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said at a briefing on the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima held at the Seoul Government Complex this morning, “Tritium concentrations above the ‘lower detection limit’ were detected at some points in the sea area within 3 km of the nuclear power plant, and the IAEA requested special attention for changes in tritium concentration at those points. “I asked for your attention,” he said.
Deputy Director Park continued, “The IAEA received an explanation from Tokyo Electric Power Company that it is a ‘normal phenomenon due to changes in the direction of ocean currents,’ and the IAEA also said that considering the complexity and uncertainty of ocean currents, the concentration of tritium in the sea area to date is within the normal fluctuation range. “I explained that I judged it to be true,” he said.
However, Deputy Director Park explained that the lower detection limit means ‘the smallest value that can be identified by equipment’ and is a different standard from the emission standard, which is the standard for determining risk.
Deputy Director Park said, “Detection of tritium at a concentration exceeding the lower detection limit does not mean ‘abnormality’ or ‘an abnormal situation.’”
He said, “Detection exceeding the lower limit of detection is a technical expression of ‘reaching a measurable value.’” Considering that the standard for judging discharge cessation is 700 Bq (becquerel) per liter, it is difficult to believe that there is a problem with discharge simply by detecting a concentration exceeding the lower limit of detection. “It’s difficult,” he said.
“However, it is understood that there are some concerns that the tritium concentration at some peaks near the nuclear power plant was recently measured to be higher than during the first discharge period,” he said. “The government will thoroughly monitor tritium concentration in the future and resolve any issues that cannot be explained by the influence of ocean currents.” “If an unusual situation, such as the detection of tritium concentration, is detected, we plan to request an explanation and response from the Japanese government and the IAEA,” he emphasized.
According to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, the secondary discharge of contaminated water will end today with cleaning of residual contaminated water inside the transfer facility. The timing of the start of the third discharge is not yet known.
As a result of tritium analysis of samples collected from 14 points within 10 km near the nuclear power plant, it was confirmed that all of them were below the emission cessation standard. Among these, 12 peaks were measured below the lower detection limit, and two peaks at 200m and 600m from the discharge outlet were measured above the ‘lower detection limit’.
Source: Donga
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