Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, has repeatedly requested that the term ‘treated water’ be used for radioactive contaminated water that has been stored in water tanks at the nuclear power plant site and is being discharged into the sea starting this year. This means that some radioactive materials were purified before discharge.
Tomohiko Mayuzumi, spokesperson for Tokyo Electric Power Company, said in an interview with the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs joint press team held in Tokyo on the 1st, “I hope they use (radioactive) ‘contaminated water’ and ‘treated water’ separately.” “What was not treated with ‘ALPS’ (polynuclide removal facility) is ‘contaminated water,’ and what was treated with ‘ALPS’ is ‘Alps treated water.’”
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was shut down during the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. At the time, an average of 90 ㎥ of contaminated water was generated within the nuclear power plant building per day last year due to injection of cooling water to cool the melted nuclear fuel and inflow of rainwater and groundwater from outside.
Initially, Japan stored this contaminated water in water tanks within the nuclear power plant site, but has been pushing for ocean discharge on the grounds that the ‘state of saturation’ is imminent, and plans for ocean discharge, including treatment in the Alps, have been approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for two years from 2021. After completing safety verification, discharge began in August of this year.
However, tritium (tritium) remains unfiltered in the contaminated water after Alps treatment, so Japan is choosing to dilute it again with seawater to lower its concentration below the safety standard.
On the other hand, environmental experts at home and abroad are concerned that if tritium, which is artificially generated through processes such as nuclear fission rather than in the natural world, is dumped into the sea for a long period of time, it could have fatal consequences not only for the marine ecosystem but also for humans in the end.
However, Spokesperson Mayuzumi said, “Radioactive materials other than tritium (in the contaminated water) were treated (with Alps) until they clearly fell below the safety standard,” and “The tritium concentration was also diluted with seawater to less than 1,500 becquerels (㏃) per liter. “I did it,” he emphasized.
According to Japan’s explanation, the concentration of tritium in the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is not only lower than Japan’s nuclear power plant effluent standard of 60,000 ㏃ per liter, but also lower than Korea’s 40,000 ㏃ and the United States’ 37,000 ㏃, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) It falls below the drinking water standard of 10,000 ㏃.
In relation to this, spokesperson Mayuzumi repeatedly emphasized, “What we are discharging into the sea is not contaminated water.” He said, “The safety of the treated water discharged into the sea is ensured through sea area monitoring,” and “I hope people understand that it is treated water, not contaminated water, just to avoid misunderstandings or the spread of rumors.”
Since the start of the ocean discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan has been disclosing information on residual radioactive substances in the discharged contaminated water through the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Tokyo Electric Power Company website.
Spokesperson Mayuzumi also emphasized, “The daily flow rate of tritium treated water is based on 460㎥ (maximum design flow rate of 500㎥),” and “The seawater flow rate is 340,000㎥ per day, which is 740 times the dilution ratio.” .
Since August, Japan has discharged Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water treated by Alps into the sea a total of three times, and the fourth discharge is scheduled to take place next year.
Spokesperson Mayuzumi said, “The amount of tritium in the 1st and 2nd discharges was 1.1 trillion ㏃, and 1 trillion ㏃ in the 3rd discharge,” and “It is expected that the amount of tritium in the 4th discharge will be 1.4 trillion ㏃.” .
Meanwhile, in relation to the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, some in Korea have raised claims that it is correct to use the term ‘treated water’, but our government authorities are currently using the term ‘contaminated water’.
(Tokyo·Seoul=News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.