Nuclear Industry Association of Japan (NIAJ) proposes that “new and additional nuclear power plants and rebuilding of nuclear power plants should be clearly stated in national plans
July 22, 2022
On July 22, the Japan Atomic Energy Industries Association (JAEA), an association of companies involved in nuclear power generation, released a proposal calling for the construction of new nuclear power plants and their replacement (rebuilding). The association said this is the first time it has issued such a proposal. The association calls for new nuclear power plants to be built or rebuilt to maintain the nuclear power supply chain.
Public distrust of nuclear power plants has been deep-rooted in the wake of the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The government has stated that it “does not envision” new or rebuilt reactors at this time, and a freeze on nuclear power plants continues in Japan.
However, the crisis in Ukraine has led to…
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ7Q6FMPQ7QULFA00G.html?fbclid=IwAR15C-Y5Sa1q9Ix65ZQ3PZpe3Oo7o3ZEnoTISCxBrTj-NzMO5nQ6xPsAhQQ
Indonesia lifts restrictions on post-Fukushima food imports at Japan summit
TOKYO, July 27 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo held talks in Tokyo on Wednesday ahead of this year’s Group of 20 major economies’ summit in Bali in November which Widodo will host.
Following a summit meeting between the leaders, Kishida told a joint press conference that Indonesia has lifted all restrictions on imports of Japanese food products that were imposed in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011.
Kishida said he was thankful for the move and that the lifting of import restrictions on food products from seven previously affected prefectures here would “encourages people in the disaster-hit areas.”
Widodo, for his part, said he asked Japan to ease or scrap tariffs it imposes on Indonesian tuna, pineapples and bananas.
He also passed on his condolences over the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was gunned down during a stump speech earlier this month.
Widodo will conclude his visit to Japan with a meeting with Emperor Naruhito later in the day and will then depart for South Korea, government officials here said.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2022-07/27/content_78344112.htm
South Koreans hold protests to condemn Japan’s sewage discharge into the sea
July 27, 2022
South Koreans hold protests against Japan for dumping sewage into the sea
Hangzhou Net Release time: 2022-07-27 12:55
CCTV news client news on the 26th local time, some South Koreans came to the Japanese embassy in South Korea to hold a protest rally, condemning the Japanese nuclear regulator for approving the plan to discharge nuclear polluted water into the sea, and asking the Japanese government to withdraw the relevant decision.
On the same day, protesters held placards and shouted slogans, strongly condemning Japan’s nuclear-polluted water discharge plan. They say the ocean is shared by mankind, not Japan’s own. Japan’s decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean endangers the health of all human beings and must be stopped.
Protester Kim Soo-hyung: The lives and safety of people all over the world will be destroyed. The decision to (nuclearly pollute the water and discharge the sea) is a major crime that may take away the future of mankind.
Protesters also said that the South Korean government must take a tougher stance and resolutely prevent Japan from discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol: “Japan should seek neighbors’ consent before releasing Fukushima wastewater”
July 26, 2022
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Tuesday that Japan should seek the consent of neighboring countries before moving ahead with its plan to discharge treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.
When asked by a reporter about the Japanese government’s recent approval to build discharge facilities during his regular morning press briefing, Yoon said: “Since my presidential campaign, my position has been that (Japan) should provide a transparent explanation about the issue of dealing with contaminated water for neighboring countries and gain consent.” He did not give any further details.
Japan’s nuclear regulator last Friday formally approved a plan to construct an underground water tunnel and other facilities to dump treated radioactive water into the sea — which was proposed by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings in December 2021, according to the country’s Foreign Ministry.
The recent approval came after the Japanese government, in 2021, approved a controversial initiative to release irradiated water into the Pacific Ocean starting from around spring 2023 in light of limited storage space.
The massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. As of July, more than 1.3 million metric tons of highly radioactive wastewater, which was used to cool three damaged reactor cores, has reportedly been retained in the plant tanks.
President Yoon’s comment came a day after Rep. Kim Min-seok of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea called for Yoon to swiftly express the government’s official stance on Japan’s decision and propose counter plans.
“When discharge begins, radioactive materials will flow into our waters along ocean currents, and we will not be able to stop seafood exposed to radioactive substances from being served at the table,” Kim said on his Facebook post.
The lawmaker asked if the Yoon government remains silent in view of potential adverse impacts on its plan to resurrect the nuclear energy sector and its initiative to mend diplomatic ties with Japan.
South Korean Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Bang Moon-kyu, convened an emergency government meeting last Friday in response to Japan’s plan.
The Yoon government pledged to reinforce maritime radiation monitoring and make every effort to protect public health, safety, and the marine environment. Seoul also said it would convey concerns about the ramifications of the treated wastewater discharge and request information needed to examine the safety through bilateral communication channels with Japan.
The South Korean and Japanese foreign ministries have held a series of working-level meetings on the issue since last December. The director-level talks were held virtually for the first time in June with the participation of related ministries, including Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.
But the Foreign Ministry has not issued any statements on Japan’s plan — which could stir up anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea — as of Tuesday evening.
In contrast, the decision by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority resulted in an immediate backlash from China’s Foreign Ministry.
“If Japan insists on putting its own interests above the public interest of the international community and insists on taking this dangerous step, it will surely pay the price for irresponsible behavior and leave a stain on history,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said last Friday during a regular briefing.
Fukushima Decommissioning Safety Monitoring Council accepts the draft report as “safe”
July 26, 2022
In response to the Nuclear Regulation Commission’s approval of a plan to discharge treated water from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Okuma and Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture) into the ocean by diluting it with seawater, the prefectural decommissioning safety monitoring council, consisting of prefectural governments and coastal municipalities, held a meeting at the prefectural office on July 26.
The committee approved a draft report by experts that concluded that “the safety of the surrounding areas will be ensured by the measures TEPCO has proposed.
The draft report evaluated that the measurement of radioactive material concentrations in the treated water and the safety measures for the seabed construction work were all properly planned. The report then sets forth eight requirements for TEPCO, including the dissemination of easy-to-understand information on radiation environmental impact assessments. The experts will complete the report by adding drawings, etc.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/191904?rct=national&fbclid=IwAR3fpY_7qDRBsbWDd57FXnvI9EDBFA_WTlN7zzHzD_9ldK_hG8AgxSclWDM
High anxiety as Japan takes another step toward releasing wastewater from crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into sea
July 25, 2022
Tokyo — The fishing industry around Japan’s Fukushima coast expressed disappointment and resignation over the weekend as long-expected plans to start releasing treated wastewater into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant moved one step closer to reality. The drastic measure has been adopted as the only practical way out of a dilemma that’s plagued the damaged plant for more than a decade.
Late last week, Japan’s national nuclear regulator formally endorsed the plan to discharge more than 1 million tons of wastewater from the plant into the sea off Japan’s Pacific coast. The water will be filtered first to remove about 60 radioactive isotopes, with the exception of tritium, which can’t be extracted using existing technology.
After inspection and dilution with seawater, the water will be pumped out beyond Japan’s fishing zones through a 0.6-mile-long undersea tunnel, which will be carved through ocean bedrock starting near the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s reactor number 5.
The unprecedented, controversial disposal operation is likely to take decades.
Since the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns in three of the plant’s reactors, operator Tepco has struggled to manage the vast amount of contaminated water — a combination of reactor cooling water, rainwater and groundwater, all irradiated as it flows through the highly-radioactive melted reactor cores – accumulating at the facility.
As a stopgap, the grounds surrounding the damaged reactors have been converted into a giant tank farm, with more than 1,000 storage vessels holding 1,310,000 tons of wastewater.
Tepco has long warned that it will run out of storage space as soon as spring 2023, and that the structures are hampering the technologically challenging work of decommissioning the plant. The temporary storage solution is also highly vulnerable to any future natural disasters.
In an effort to assuage concerns from neighboring countries, Japan sought a review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Last spring, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi declared ocean disposal “both technically feasible and in line with international practice.”
He noted that normally functioning nuclear power plants (including in South Korea and China) regularly discharge wastewater into the sea, but he acknowledged “the large amount of water at the Fukushima plant makes it a unique and complex case.“
Before construction of the undersea tunnel can even begin, however, Tepco’s proposal must win backing from the regional government in Fukushima Prefecture and the two affected towns of Okuma and Futaba. A Fukushima fish processing company representative told the Asahi newspaper, “to be honest, even if we oppose this, I don’t feel like we have any chance of overturning the decision.”
After years of painstaking efforts to convince the Japanese public and the rest of the world that their seafood is safe, the local fishing industry fears the ocean release will tarnish their brand anew. Tokyo has promised to buy catches if the industry suffers reputational damage.
Of the 55 countries and regions that imposed restrictions on imported Japanese food after the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe — including the U.S. — five (China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) still have import bans in place.
Regulators solicited public comment and said they had received more than 1,200 responses, including people voicing concern over whether the undersea tunnel would be earthquake-safe, and what was being done to protect workers.
Tokyo has said levels of tritium — the one isotope that can’t be filtered out — will be diluted to below 1/40th of the allowable level for discharge in Japan, and 1/7th the WHO ceiling for drinking water.
Still, some experts have called for greater transparency, fearing unintended consequences of the operation. There is also concern about whether the discharge of enormous amounts of wastewater could set a bad precedent for dealing with future nuclear accidents.
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