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Regulatory Commission to Approve Plan for Ocean Discharge of Treated Water on 22nd, TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

July 20, 2022
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) announced on July 20 that it will discuss at an extraordinary meeting on July 22 a draft review report on TEPCO’s plan to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after purification and treatment, stating that the plan has no safety problems and meets the requirements of government policy. Based on the results of a public comment period, the committee is expected to decide on the review report and approve the plan.
　According to the Regulatory Commission, it received approximately 1,200 comments from the public during the period from May 19 to June 17. The Regulatory Commission will also present its views on the opinions at the meeting.
　According to the plan, the treated water, which is mainly tritium, will be diluted with a large amount of seawater to less than 1/40th of the national discharge standard, and then discharged through a newly constructed undersea tunnel about 1 km offshore. More than 1.3 million tons of the treated water is stored in tanks on the plant’s premises, and TEPCO plans to finish releasing it over a period of about 30 years starting next spring.
　TEPCO is preparing for the construction of the tunnel by installing a shield machine to excavate the tunnel on a site near the seawall of the plant. Tunnel excavation can only begin after receiving approval from the Regulatory Commission and obtaining the consent of Fukushima Prefecture and the two towns of Okuma and Futaba, where the plant is located.
　Fishermen and fishermen are strongly opposed to the release of treated water. (Shinichi Ogawa and Kenta Onozawa)

Processed water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated water generated when cooling water injected into the reactors of Units 1-3 came into contact with nuclear fuel debris that melted down in the accident and mixed with groundwater and rainwater that flowed into the buildings, and was purified by a multinuclide removal system (ALPS). Tritium, a radioactive substance that cannot be removed, remains in concentrations exceeding the national discharge standard. In April 2021, the government decided to discharge the treated water into the ocean by the spring of 2023. TEPCO is proceeding with a plan to use a large amount of seawater to dilute the tritium concentration to less than 1/40th of the discharge standard and discharge the water into the sea.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/190829?fbclid=IwAR39Bvgz0pCGmfeTUIeMKiljEVAZgDWOVGRMwAnP2O_mbbKL9LlaUbwt40w

July 22, 2022 - Posted by dunrenard | Fuk 2022 | Approval, Fukushima Daiichi, Nuclear Regulation Authority, Radioactive Water, Sea release