TOKYO – The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc (TEPCO) is planning to build an approximately 1-km undersea tunnel to release contaminated radioactive water from the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant out to sea, local media reported Wednesday.
The undersea tunnel will be constructed by hollowing out bedrock on the seabed near the No 5 reactor at the Fukushima plant, Japan Today reported.
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It will stretch 1 km east from the plant out to sea, releasing the water into an area of the ocean where no fishing rights are in place, the paper reported quoting sources.
TEPCO is seeking to start full-scale construction of the tunnel in early 2022 after applying to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for a review of the construction plan, according to local media
TEPCO is seeking to start full-scale construction of the tunnel in early 2022 after applying to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for a review of the construction plan, according to local media.
Water pumped into the ruined reactors at the Fukushima plant to cool the melted fuel is being treated using an advanced liquid processing system to remove most contaminants, according to local media. However, substances like tritium – a radioactive byproduct of nuclear reactors – are hard to filter out.
More than 1 million tons of treated water has since accumulated.
The decision to release the contaminated water offshore into the Pacific is aimed at preventing reputational damage to local marine products amid condemnation from fishermen, local media reported.
The Japanese government said last weei it would buy marine products as an emergency measure to support fishermen if the planned discharge of treated water from the Fukushima plant into the sea hurts their sales.
The decision to release the contaminated water offshore into the Pacific is aimed at preventing reputational damage to local marine products amid condemnation from fishermen, local media reported
The Japanese government decided in April to start discharging the water from around spring of 2023.
The country's decision to dump contaminated water into the sea has received strong criticism from its neighboring countries, including China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has urged the Japanese side to take a responsible attitude and treat the issue of nuclear waste disposal with caution.
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He has stressed that proper disposal of nuclear waste is related to international public interests and the vital interests of neighboring countries, which should be handled carefully and properly to avoid further damaging the marine environment, food safety and human health.
Meanwhile, South Korea has also voiced its "grave concerns," with Foreign Ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam saying "it will be difficult to accept if the Japanese side decides to release the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant without sufficient consultations."