Japan started pumping treated water from the sea to the sea this Thursday Fukushima Nuclear Power Plantjust as the Japanese government had planned, arguing that understanding of the plan was “progressing” both at home and abroad.
The leak began after the final checks on the water pumps were carried out and some valves were manually opened, the company responsible said rough centerTEPCO.
“Each process has to be carried out very strictly. under state guidance“We will fulfill our responsibilities,” Junichi Matsumoto, leader of the initiative, told a press conference, also stating that the spill would stop if any kind of anomaly was found.
Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the operator of the facility, decided to proceed with disposal this Thursday after ensuring radioactive waste concentrations were within established limits and no irregularities in its systems after North Korea launched a facility today it alleged Spacecraft that triggered the momentary activation of anti-missile defense alert in the south of the Japanese archipelago.
The draining of water has started more than twelve years after the nuclear crisis caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit this area of ​​Japan in 2011 and is being carried out after a purification process through a circuit called ALPS (Advanced liquid processing system).
The Japanese government decided in 2021 to resort to controlled discharge into the sea to get rid of the contaminated liquid that accumulates in nuclear power plants, where space for the large tanks in which it is stored is becoming scarce, which as a fundamental step is viewed to him dismantling of the plant.
Contaminated water is treated with the ALPS system, which is capable of completely removing 62 types of radioactive substances, except for tritium and carbon-14. The disposal process is monitored by the Japanese authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure it meets safety standards.
As TEPCO said today, a recent analysis would have confirmed that the concentration of tritium It was “well below” the national standard for discharge and “confirmed to be diluted as expected.”
After the oil spill, the company will also send a vessel to monitor the area and water conditions. However, it has not indicated when that process will begin today and will publish the data in real time on its website to “ensure transparency”. .
The first discharge lasts 17 days and a few days 7,800 tons of waterHowever, since the formation of contaminated water cannot be completely stopped in the course of the decommissioning of the plant, a further discharge of about 30 years is to be expected.
refusal to dismiss
The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives remains firmly opposed to the plan, arguing that the measure will prevent Fukushima fishermen from breaking the radioactive stigma that rests on them Catches since 2011.
Sections of Japanese society, voices from the international scientific community and environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, which consider the safety guarantees presented to be insufficient, as well as neighboring countries, especially China, have also spoken out against dumping.
Several on the same Thursday Environmental and anti-nuclear civic platforms They called for new demonstrations in different parts of Japan to protest the measure. Similar rallies were organized in Seoul as in the past few days.