Many people have long forgotten about the Fukushima nuclear power plant and what took place during the strong earthquake that shook Japan, along with the tsunami. It seems as if problems are still occurring and now Japan is poised to release more than a million tons of radioactive water into the sea.
They are not planning on releasing it all at one time, reports indicate that it will be a release that takes decades. Of course, there are many who oppose their efforts, including farmers, local fishermen, and environmentalists.
The water that was being filtered to reduce radioactivity is supposed to start to be released in 2022. Reports from Japanese media outlets, including the Nikkei and the Yomiuri Shimbun have reported on the matter.
There has been a long debate over how the liquids would be disposed of. There was water used to cool the power station after the tsunami struck it in 2011. Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the water would be diluted so it is 40 times less concentrated before it is released. It would take 30 years for this process to complete.
According to a government panel, some of the ‘realistic options’ included releasing the water into the sea and evaporating it.
Another statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato was:
“We can’t postpone a decision on the plan to deal with the… processed water, to prevent delays in the decommission work of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.”
Some 1.23 million tons of wastewater is stored in tanks at Fukushima. TEPCO, the plant operator has confirmed that amount but is not commenting on any of the reports.
There has always been opposition to various proposals. Fishermen and farmers, who are likely to be impacted by any decision have voiced their concerns. Scientists, on the other hand, take more of a positive approach and say that the water would be diluted in the Pacific Ocean. They also say that tritium does not have a great risk to animal or human health.
The issue started in 1911 when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan, triggering a large tsunami. The backup systems were able to survive the initial quake, preventing a meltdown but further damage occurred due to the tsunami.
Over the following days after the earthquake and tsunami, the cooling systems began to fail. The release of tons of radioactive material occurred and this was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 meltdown in Chernobyl.