Japan announces it will release treated radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met members of his Cabinet including industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama to formalise the decision on Tuesday, despite concerns from China
- The announcement comes a decade after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a triple meltdown in March 2011
The Japanese government decided on Tuesday to release treated radioactive water accumulating at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, having assessed there will be no negative impact on human health or the environment despite concerns from local fishermen and neighbouring countries.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met members of his Cabinet including industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama to formalise the decision, which comes a decade after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a triple meltdown in March 2011.
The decision came despite China saying it had “deep concerns” over the plan. On Monday China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Beijing had through diplomatic channels asked the Japanese government to “adopt a responsible attitude”.
“The Japanese side often asks other countries to fulfil their international responsibilities, and right now, the international society is looking at Japan – so Japan cannot turn a blind eye or turn a deaf ear,” he said. “This issue is very significant, so Japan needs to be responsible to the international public interests, which is also being responsible to the Japanese people’s interests.”
Zhao had previously said he hoped Japan would conduct a “thorough assessment” of the treatment process for the tritium-contaminated waste water, and “disclose relevant information in a voluntary, timely, strict, accurate, open and transparent manner, and make prudent decisions after full consultation with neighbouring countries”.
China raises ‘deep concerns’ over plan to release Fukushima plant water into sea
South Korea had also raised concerns about the plan, as had Japanese fishermen who fear consumers will shun Japanese seafood over safety concerns. Yet these concerns appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Suga had previously said a decision on the waste water was needed as the storage tanks at the Fukushima plant would be full by the summer of 2022.
The water was pumped into the ruined reactors of the plant after the 2011 disaster in an attempt to cool them down. That water, mixed with rain and groundwater that has also been contaminated, has been treated using an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS.
The process removes most radioactive materials including strontium and cesium but leaves behind tritium, which poses little risk to human health in low concentration. The treated water is being stored in tanks on the plant’s premises – more than 1.25 million tons.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc expects to run out of space as early as autumn next year.
Additional reporting by Sarah Zheng
