Fukushima Daiichi’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), announced Thursday the start of discharging treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the nuclear power plant into the ocean.
In a video broadcast live from the plant’s control room, TEPCO showed a member of the team turning on the pump that drains the water to the sea at 1:03 p.m. (5:03 a.m. in Lisbon), three minutes after the start of the factory. final stage of a process that could last until 2050.
The pump sent the first batch of diluted and treated water from a mixing pool to a secondary pool, from where the water is discharged through an underwater tunnel into the ocean one kilometer offshore.
| URGENT: Japan begins discharging treated radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, TEPCO reports. pic.twitter.com/phMUTq14HV
– World Alert (@WorldAlert2) August 24, 2023
【ライブ】処理水放出を開始 東京電力福島第一原発/Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Started Discharging Treated Water【LIVE】 (8/24/2023)#今すぐ汚染水放出を止めろ view more#汚染水を海に流すな #汚染水の海洋放出に反対します pic.twitter.com/AFUJmrQWdQ
– 柚子姫＠れいわ推し (@pDyvhzFJAIAJe90) August 24, 2023
The launch only took place after TEPCO confirmed there was no impact from North Korea’s launch of an alleged spy satellite, which triggered the activation of anti-missile alert in the south of the Japanese archipelago.
TEPCO had warned that by early 2024, the Fukushima Daiichi plant could run out of space to store about 1.33 million tons of water, from rain, groundwater or injections needed to cool nuclear reactor cores.
The operator plans to release 31,200 tonnes of treated water by the end of March 2024, which would empty only 10 of its approximately 1,000 storage tanks, although discharge rates are expected to increase later on.
Preparations began on Tuesday after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave final approval at a meeting of ministers involved in the plan approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Also on Tuesday, one ton of treated water was mixed with 1,200 tons of seawater, with the mixture held in the primary basin for two days for final sampling to ensure safety, a TEPCO official said.
Junichi Matsumoto had said that the first phase, which would last about 17 days, would discharge about 7,800 cubic meters of water containing tritium, a radioactive substance that is dangerous only in highly concentrated doses.
The release of water begins nearly twelve and a half years after the March 2011 meltdown, triggered by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.
The plan sparked concerns among Japanese fishing groups and in neighboring countries, sparking street protests in South Korea and mainland China and prompting the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macau to ban imports of certain foodstuffs from 10 provinces in Japan.
VIDEO: A small group of protesters gather near the Fukushima Daiichi power plant as wastewater discharge into the Pacific Ocean is about to begin pic.twitter.com/u4VUzSiAgq
– AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 24, 2023
In a statement released about half an hour after announcing the start of the discharges, China’s foreign ministry criticized the decision as “an extremely selfish and irresponsible action that does not take into account the international public interest”.
Seoul asks Tokyo for transparency on discharges from Fukushima nuclear power plant
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo has called on Japan to transparently disclose information about treated water discharges from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Japan must “transparently” publish data on the impact of Fukushima’s water discharges “over the next 30 years,” the official said.
“I call on the Japanese government to transparently and responsibly publish information on water discharges for the next 30 years,” he said, while also denouncing “false information” and demagoguery surrounding the Japanese decision, which Seoul publicly supported. suggested.
The head of the South Korean government acknowledged that there is no cause for “excessive concern” because the plan approved by the Japanese authorities, which received approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), should not cause significant damage.
“While the ideal scenario would be to completely avoid the discharge of polluted water, experts around the world share the view that excessive public concern is not necessary,” he insisted.
Sixteen demonstrators have been arrested in Seoul
Meanwhile, 16 people were arrested for trying to enter the Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea, during a demonstration to denounce the discharge of water from Fukushima into the sea.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the embassy, holding signs that read, “The ocean is not Japan’s garbage.”
The South Korean news agency Yonhap in turn indicates that 16 people, all university students, have been arrested for this burglary attempt.
Other protesters were dispersed and police restricted access to the building housing the embassy shortly after this incident.
Seoul has publicly supported Tokyo’s decision to begin discharging contaminated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant from today.
“I call on the Japanese government to publish launch information transparently and responsibly for the next 30 years,” South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said today.
Source: DN
