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Japan urged to face up to legitimate international concerns on dumping nuclear-contaminated water into ocean

By Global Times Jun 23, 2023

Japan was urged to face up to the legitimate concerns of the international community on dumping nuclear-contaminated water into ocean at the 53rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday. Japan’s moves are passing on the risk of nuclear pollution to all mankind that are seriously endangering the right to health of people of all countries,  the Chinese representative to the council said.

The Chinese representative said that Japan’s dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea violated its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Japan has so far failed to prove that the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is safe and sound. The data released by Japan itself also shows that nearly 70 percent of the treated nuclear-contaminated water still fail to meet the standards.

The dumping plan is not the only way to deal with the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water, nor is it the safest and most optimal means of disposal. However, the Japanese side chose to discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean based on  economic cost, and in doing so is passing on the risk of nuclear pollution to all mankind, and is seriously endangering the right to health of people of all countries.

The Chinese representative pointed out that Japan has not followed the principle of consultation on the dumping plan of nuclear-contaminated water, and has repeatedly tried to mislead the international community, trying to cover up the uncertain risks of nuclear-contaminated water dumped into the sea under the disguise of “treated water.”………………………………….

This is not a matter for Japan alone. The Japanese side must face up to the strong opposition voices at home and abroad and the reasonable concerns of the international community, honestly fulfill its international obligations, and dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in an open, transparent, and safest way, so as not to cause irreversible consequence,  the representative noted.  https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1293022.shtml

June 26, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

The Fukushima Wastewater ‘Discharge’: What’s in a Name? – technostrategic language.

Japan is very carefully shaping the narrative around its release of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

The Diplomat By Maxime Polleri, June 12, 2023

Japan is planning to soon release a million tons of radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant. Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, water used to cool the crippled power plant has become contaminated, while being kept in huge storage tanks. Advanced techniques of water treatment have removed many of the radioactive substances from this stored water, but one pollutant, radioactive tritium, remains especially tricky to get rid of. Since tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen – a key component of water – it cannot be removed by purification and remains in the treated water.

Currently, tritium-contaminated water is filling Japan’s tanks to the brink and the government has no choice but to release this water in the sea. This decision is fueling numerous controversies surrounding the potential danger of releasing nuclear wastewater in the ocean. It is notably facing stark opposition from Japan’s fishing industry, which has been scrambling to recover ever since the 2011 nuclear meltdowns.

As a social anthropologist working on this disaster, I am less concerned about the scientific debates over the safety vs. danger, and more interested in another type of battle that surrounds this decision: a linguistic one. For instance, when fishermen discuss their concerns, they at times use a specific narrative that accuses the authorities of treating the sea as a garbage dump. On the other hand, state authorities and nuclear organizations like The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), rarely talk about “dumping” wastewater in the sea. Instead, they use words like “release,” “disposal,” or even “dilution.” Words like “garbage,” “pollutants,” “contaminants,” or “waste” are also utterly absent from these expert organizations’ vocabulary. In talking about tritium-contaminated water, for example, IAEA prefers resorting to highly technical terms like Advanced Liquid Processing System-treated water.

These words are not random choices. They reflect highly peculiar ways of governing environmental risks in the aftermath of nuclear disasters. In particular, they echo what scholar Carol Cohn famously called “technostrategic language,” that is, terminologies that disregard particular realities in the face of risks, while preventing the expression of specific values. Cohn first talked about technostrategic languages in the context of nuclear defense intellectuals, arguing that their specific language allowed a rejection of the idea that they too could become victims of the wrath of nuclear weapons.

Similarly, words like “discharge,” “dilution,” or “treated water” are part of governance techniques that have powerful symbolic functions. This language imbues post-disaster narratives with specific values, while shutting out alternatives. Let us examine some of the consequences of this technostrategic language.

First, technical words provide an aura of expertise, legitimacy, and control toward the things that cannot be governed, such as the slow accumulation of tons of contaminated water………………………..

Second, much like the phenomenon of radioactive decay – a process where unstable atomic elements gradually transform themselves into wholly different elements – bringing discussions of contamination into the technical sphere literally transmutes the narrative of “waste dumping” into what appears to be a sound policy of “treated-water management.”………………….

Third, the use of scientific jargon also creates powerful hierarchical divisions between people and experts. For instance, Japanese fishermen are worried that the release of radioactive water will affect their livelihood. Yet they can rarely compete against the technical lingo of reified expertise. https://thediplomat.com/2023/06/the-fukushima-wastewater-discharge-whats-in-a-name/

June 14, 2023 Posted by | culture and arts, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Fukushima waste-water plan a nuclear threat to Asia-Pacific

FILE PHOTO: Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

By Shaun Burnie | chinadaily.com.cn 2023-06-13  https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202306/13/WS6487d3e0a31033ad3f7bbf92.html

Japan has decided to start discharging radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean very soon. The operator of the wrecked plant began tests on Monday of newly constructed facilities for discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the sea. Many myths and untruths have been spread about the nuclear-contaminated water. For example, the Japanese government has said, that according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear industry and some scientists, there is nothing to worry about the effects of the radioactive wastewater.

The Japanese government also claims that nearly all the radioactive materials will be removed from the wastewater using the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) with only tritium remaining before it is released into the Pacific. It is constantly stated that tritium cannot be removed from the wastewater, but would emit very weak radiation and therefore it will have no impact on either the marine environment or human health in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

False claims to mislead the Japanese public

As for Tokyo Electric Power Company, the owner of the Fukushima nuclear plant, it claims discharging the wastewater is necessary due to insufficient space for more storage tanks and for it to be able to fully decommissioning the Fukushima plant between 2041 and 2051. TEPCO also says the discharges will meet regulatory standards and will be lawful.

In the real world, it is a lot worse and a lot more complicated than what TEPCO, the Japanese government and the IAEA claims. The ALPS has been a spectacular failure, with major doubts about its effectiveness. In addition to tritium, all the radioactive carbon (C-14) in the wastewater will be released into the ocean along with many other radionuclides (plutonium isotopes, iodine-129, strontium-90). But despite the Japanese government and TEPCO “planning” to keep them below the regulatory limit, they will still be significant.

There is no safety threshold for artificial radioactivity in the environment, and technology does exist to process tritium from the tanks’ water. However, TEPCO and the Japanese government do not want to spend huge amounts of money needed to do so. Tritium is indeed a low energy radioactive material but that does not mean its effect is weak; if ingested, it has the potential to damage plants, animals and humans.

Recent research published by a leading radiation biologist shows scientific literature of the past 60-plus years is clear — tritium, in particular organically bound tritium (OBT), is biologically harmful to all forms of life. The persistence, bioaccumulation and potential biomagnification and increased toxicity of OBT increases the potential impact on the environment if tritiated water is discharged on land or in the sea.

Tritium more dangerous than previously believed

None of the current regulations in Japan (or worldwide) takes into full account the nature of organic forms of tritium. That organic forms of tritium have been found to bioaccumulate in phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, is deeply worrying. The fact that there has been no comprehensive environmental impact assessment of these and many other issues is outrageous, and suggests there is a deliberate underestimation of the accumulation and potential toxic effect of tritium on the environment.

Equally important, the many other radioactive materials in the Fukushima wastewater have the potential to cause damage to the environment and human health. In fact, Japan has sufficient storage capacity, including in the areas around the Fukushima plant. And storing the toxic wastewater, TEPCO cannot fully decommission the reactors at Fukushima in the next 20-30 years — probably not in this century. Rather than being lawful, the release of the wastewater into the sea will violate international law, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.


One reason why the untruths and myths continue to be spread is that there is a lot at stake for the Japanese government and the nuclear industry. Japan’s energy policy is dependent on restarting many nuclear reactors shut down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. So far, nine have resumed operations — but according to government policy, Japan needs 30-plus reactors by 2030.

Public opinion in Japan has been influenced by the government’s claim that it is safe to operate these nuclear reactors and that it is possible to recover from a three-reactor meltdown without consequences for human health and the environment. Of course, it’s not.

Sweeping real issue under the carpet

TEPCO, the Japanese government or the IAEA refuses to accept that the wastewater crisis points to a deeper nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant. And it is getting worse, because groundwater entering the plant continues to become highly contaminated, while the water in the tanks requiring ALPS processing increases.

In November 2021, based on TEPCO data, there were 1,284,284 cubic meters of contaminated ALPS water in the storage tanks, of which 832,900 cu m needed further ALPS processing. As of April 20, 2023, the total volume of radioactive wastewater stored in the tanks was 1,330,944 cu m — a 3.6 percent increase in less than 2 years.

Worse, about 70 percent or 931,600 cu m of the wastewater needs to be processed again (and probably many times again) by the ALPS to bring the radioactive concentration levels below the regulatory limit for discharge. This is an increase of nearly 12 percent in less than 2 years.

TEPCO has succeeded in reducing the concentration levels of strontium, iodine and plutonium in only 0.2 percent of the total volume of the wastewater, and it still requires further processing. But no secondary processing has taken place in the past nearly three years. Neither TEPCO nor the Japanese government nor the IAEA wants to talk about this. They have not said how many times the wastewater needs to be processed, how long it will take to do so or whether the efforts will ever be successful.

Problems not new but none solved in 5 years

Greenpeace wrote about these problems and why the ALPS failed nearly five years ago; none of those issues has been resolved. Also, there is a high possibility of the ALPS failing in the future.

To proceed with their discharge plan, the Japanese government and TEPCO have been creating a false impression on the public that significant progress has been made in decommissioning the Fukushima plant. But fact is, the source of the problem — the highly radioactive fuel debris in reactor pressure vessels 1, 2 and 3 — continues to contaminate groundwater. Nearly 1000 cu m of water becomes highly contaminated every 10 days. So until the nuclear fuel is isolated from the environment, contaminated groundwater, potentially hundreds of thousands of cubic meters, will continue to accumulate.

While the Fukushima plant, after being destroyed by the earthquake-triggered tsunami in March 2011, released large amounts of radioactive particles into the environment, most of the radioactive inventory remains inside the melted fuel. As such, the damaged Fukushima plant on the edge of ocean is a long-term radioactive threat to the environment, including the marine environment. And this threat will be aggravated once Japan begins dumping the toxic water into the ocean.

TEPCO, the Japanese government and the IAEA refuse to acknowledge the fact that the decommissioning plan for the Fukushima plant is not attainable, and that they must embark on a comprehensive reassessment of the plan.

Crisis compounded by damage to reactor

The nuclear crisis in Fukushima is compounded by the damage to the reactors, in particular unit 1. The rapid meltdown of the nuclear fuel in March 2011 severely damaged the large concrete block the 440-ton reactor pressure vessel sits on. One of the agencies responsible for its decommissioning has recently demanded that TEPCO work out immediate countermeasures to prevent the possible collapse of the reactor. But with very high radiation levels inside the plant, it’s not clear whether any countermeasures are possible.

Building a very large containment structure covering the reactor buildings, like it was done at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine after the nuclear disaster in 1986, is probably the only way to prevent highly radioactive dust entering the lower atmosphere in the event of a future collapse. But such a “solution” is not a currently an option for the Japanese government or the nuclear industry, as it would send the wrong message that the decommissioning process is not going according to plan.

There is no scientific, legal or moral justification for Japan to deliberately contaminate our shared and common marine environment. And concerned citizens, scientists, maritime lawyers, the fishing communities across the Asia-Pacific and the world’s leading oceanography universities and institutes have spread public awareness about the nuclear dangers, something that has rarely been done before.

There is a very strong legal case for challenging Japan’s decision to dump the wastewater into the sea but doing so is a major undertaking. For many reasons, no state or group of states may take up the challenge through UNCLOS this year. But since the environmental threat from the Fukushima plant will only intensify, future legal action should not be ruled out.

At a time when our oceans are under so many multiple threats, including from melting glaciers and related climate emergencies, overfishing and biodiversity loss and plastic pollution — there is no reason why Japan should be allowed to dump the radioactive water into the sea.

Greenpeace has been campaigning for protection for our oceans from radioactive contamination since the 1970s. And the most important thing I have learned in my 30 years with Greenpeace is that positive change is possible even if it does not often happen as early as it should but it can happen and people must never give up their efforts or hope.

The author is a senior nuclear specialist with Greenpeace East Asia and has worked in Japan and wider Asia for over 30 years.

June 13, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans, Reference, wastes | Leave a comment

Content of radioactive element in fish at Fukushima’s Nuclear Power Plant 180 times of safe limit

CGTN 6 June 23

The radioactive elements in the marine fish caught in the harbor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan far exceed safety levels for human consumption, according to a report issued by the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on Monday. In particular, the data released show that the content of Cs-137, a radioactive element that is a common byproduct in nuclear reactors, is 180 times that of the standard maximum stipulated in Japan’s food safety law.

CGTN downloaded the English version of the report available on TEPCO’s official website. According to the data, the sampled black rockfish contains the radioactive element Cs-137 with a content of 18,000 becquerels per kilogram. Data available on the website of Fukushima Revitalization Station run by Japan’s Fukushima prefectural government shows that Japan’s current limit of radioactive cesium in general food which contains fish is set at 100 becquerels per kilogram.  

According to the report, the location where the sampled fish was caught is at the port area of Units 1 to 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where a breakwater is built and nuclear wastewater with a high concentration of radioactive substances flows in. TEPCO said it will set up multiple protective nets to prevent fish from swimming out of the harbor.

A Chinese news website sina.com.cn quoted experts noting that the radioactive elements in the nuclear wastewater could penetrate into fish, shrimp and other seafood, and later accumulate in the human body after consumption. ……………………

TEPCO on Monday started sending seawater into an underwater tunnel to be diluted before releasing the nuclear wastewater into the ocean. The company said that all facilities for the water release system are expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Local fishing communities say their businesses and livelihoods will suffer still more damage. Neighboring countries such as China and South Korea and Pacific Island nations have raised safety concerns. Environmental groups including Friends of the Earth oppose the release.  https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-06-06/Radioactive-element-in-fish-at-Fukushima-plant-180-times-safe-limit-1kpOlJEH9xm/index.html

June 8, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans, radiation | Leave a comment

  Detailed evidence exposes Japan’s lies, loopholes in nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping plan

Japan’s existing ocean discharge plan and evaluation are based on the assumption that the nuclear-contaminated wastewater can meet discharge standards after treatment.

But unfortunately, the data released by TEPCO showed that as of September 30, 2021, some 70 percent of the then 1.243 million cubic meters of ALPS-treated nuclear-contaminated wastewater still failed to meet the criteria, 18 percent of which even exceeded the standards 10 to 20,000 times over

Firstly, the types of radionuclides that TEPCO monitors are relatively few, making it far from being able to reflect the correct radionuclide dispersion in the contaminated wastewater.

The Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater, coming from the wastewater which was directly in contact with the core of the melted reactor, theoretically contains all the hundreds of types of radionuclides in the melted reactor, such as fission nuclides, a uranium isotope, and transuranic nuclide.

But TEPCO at first only listed 64 types of radionuclides including H-3 and C-14 as a (data) foundation for the works including monitoring and analysis, emission control, and environmental impact assessment. These 64 radionuclides did not include the uranium isotope and certain other α-nuclides, which have long half-lives while some are highly toxic.

TEPCO’s exclusion of the radionuclides mentioned above has greatly compromised the effectiveness of its monitoring work, as well as the credibility of its environmental impact assessment result.

“TEPCO’s plan of only monitoring a few types of radionuclides is unscientific,” the insider told the Global Times.

Later, during the review process of the IAEA Task Force in 2022, TEPCO changed the number of radionuclide types it was monitoring and analyzing to 30, and then decreased it to 29 this year. This is far from enough to provide a complete assessment of the extremely complex nuclides in the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater.

Secondly, there are missing activity concentration values for multiple radionuclides in TEPCO’s monitoring scheme.

TEPCO’s public report on the 64 radionuclides only provides activity concentration values for 12 radioactive nuclides other than tritium, while over 50 other nuclides do not have specific activity concentration values. The report, while only offering gross α and gross β values, doesn’t disclose the respective concentration levels of many highly toxic radionuclides in the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater, such as Pu-239, Pu-240 and Am-241. 

“[TEPCO’s] current plan only monitors some of the nuclides and the gross α and gross β values, which cannot accurately indicate the fluctuations or changes in the activity of each nuclide after treating the contaminated wastewater due to the fluctuation of the nuclide source term composition,” said the insider. 

This operation of TEPCO has largely increased the uncertainty of the [nuclide] source item information of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater, and thus greatly increases the difficulties of making subsequent monitoring plans and marine ecological environmental impact assessment.

Thirdly, TEPCO didn’t make conservative assumptions in many aspects of its monitoring data, and some of the assumptions it made were somewhat “negligent.”

In the process of treating the nuclear-contaminated wastewater, the slight particle shedding of chemical precipitants and inorganic adsorbents in the ALPS may cause some radionuclides to exist in a colloidal state.

Therefore, TEPCO’s assumption that all nuclides in nuclear-contaminated wastewater in the ALPS are water-soluble is obviously invalid, said the insider. “TEPCO should scientifically and comprehensively analyze whether colloidal nuclides are present in the nuclear-contaminated wastewater based on the long-term operation experience of its ALPS system,” he noted.

Huang Lanlan Jun 05, 2023  https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1291969.shtml

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Photo: VCGAs the date for Japan’s planned dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean approaches, a Pandora’s Box threatening the global marine ecosystem is likely to be opened. 

The Japanese government announced its decision on April 13 to release the nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. Starting from 2023, the discharge is scheduled to last about 30 years. This decision has garnered widespread attention and sparked great concern across the globe.

While Japanese authorities are busy colluding with some Western politicians in boasting about the discharge plan, Fukushima residents, international experts in ecology, and various stakeholders around the world have kept calling for Japan to reconsider and modify its flawed plan.

Japan’s attempt to “whitewash” the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater release plan failed again at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in May. The joint statement of the summit did not explicitly state nor allude to the G7 members’ “welcome” of the current dumping plan due to strong opposition. Instead, it only reiterated support for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) review of Fukushima’s treated water release.

An insider familiar with Japan’s dumping plan recently told the Global Times that he has many concerns and doubts about the plan. The insider provided detailed evidence exposing Japan’s lie that whitewashes its dumping plan. He also revealed many loopholes in the plan that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have refused to talk about or even deliberately concealed from the public.

All provided evidence considered, it is apparent that, currently, Japan is incapable of properly handling the nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping. The toxic wastewater processed by the Japanese side cannot currently meet international discharge standards, and the country’s reckless behavior, if not stopped and corrected in time, may cause irreparable damage to the global ecosystem.

“There are still many unresolved issues with the source terms of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater,” the insider said. 

“If the Japanese government and TEPCO continue to have their own way, it may cause improper discharge of nuclear-contaminated water, and that must be taken seriously,” he noted, calling on the two sides to be open, transparent, and honest in solving the problem.

Disappointing data monitoring

Japan’s current plan of releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea, though superficially reasonable at first glance, cannot hold up to close scrutiny. Its monitoring on the source terms of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater is incomplete, and the data it collects is likely unreliable, observers told the Global Times.

In February 2022, the IAEA Task Force released its first report, the IAEA Review of Safety Related Aspects of Handling ALPS-Treated Water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The report clearly stated that the Task Force “commented on the importance of defining the source term for the discharge of ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water in a sufficiently conservative yet realistic manner.” 

Source terms of contaminated water include the composition of radionuclide and the activity of simulation of nuclides dispersion. As the premise of marine environmental monitoring, the accuracy and reliability of the source term-related data is crucial. However, Japan’s data statistics and monitoring on the source terms are disappointingly full of loopholes. 

Continue reading →

June 7, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, Japan, radiation, Reference, wastes | 1 Comment

Tiny radioactive particles persist indoors years after Fukushima

Ellen Fiddian , https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/fukushima-caesium-microparticles/ 4 June 23

Radioactive microparticles were still coating buildings near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant five years after the disaster, according to a study in Chemosphere.

The researchers found caesium-rich microparticles (CsMPs) in the dust of an abandoned primary school 2.8 kilometres southwest of the plant.

CsMPs are usually 5 micrometres in size or smaller (<PM5), and pose a threat to human health if inhaled because they’re highly radioactive.

They also don’t dissolve well in water, meaning they’re likely to persist  in the environment and in bodies of people and animals.

“Given the small size of the particles, they could penetrate into the deepest parts of the lung, where they could be retained,” says senior author Associate Professor Satoshi Utsunomiya, a researcher at Kyushu University, Japan.

The researchers had previously shown that the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which was triggered by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, released CsMPs. They found CsMPs in a wide area including as far south as Tokyo, about 300km away.

While they had shown  CsMPs were distributed widely in the Fukushima exclusion zone, but had not yet shown that the particles could get indoors.

“When entering the school building, we were all shocked by what we saw. Five years had passed by the time of sampling in 2016, but everything was left as it was at the moment of the 2011 earthquake. It’s as if time had stood still,” says Utsunomiya.

The researchers examined dust samples from floors near the school entrance, on its second floor, and in the school yard.

They found CsMPs at both indoor locations, with higher concentrations near the door.

“The CsMPs may present a threat; as shown in our work, CsMPs may accumulate locally and form hot spots, even in indoor environments,” says Utsunomiya, although the exact health effects of CsMPs are still unclear.

“The potential occurrence of CsMPs in indoor environments dictates a need for detailed studies of indoor CsMPs in residential areas impacted by Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant fallout,” says co-author Professor Gareth Law, from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

“I believe it is our duty to conduct rigorous scientific research on the tragic Fukushima events, to find and publicize new knowledge that will be important to society and the next generation,” says Utsunomiya.

“Maybe one day time can begin again for abandoned buildings like the school, but for that to happen, significant clean-up efforts are needed, and if that is to proceed, we first need to know about the forms and extent of contamination in those buildings, such that workers and potential occupants can be protected.”

Japan will be releasing treated radioactive water – nuclear waste from the plant – into the Pacific Ocean later this year.

June 6, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, radiation | Leave a comment

Tritium found beyond safe limits in treated Fukushima wastewater

 A type of radioactive isotope in the over 1.3 million tons of wastewater
being collected at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant and planned
for discharge by as early as this summer has been found at levels beyond
those earlier suggested to be safe by the Japanese government, a wastewater
safety review report by the International Atomic Energy Agency showed
Thursday.

According to the report, which corroborated analyses of the treated wastewater by six laboratories including the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the activity concentrations of tritium in the treated water were estimated to be at least 148,900 becquerels per liter.

The wastewater filtered through Japan’s Advanced Liquid Processing System at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station contained more tritium than what was stipulated in Japan’s national regulatory standards for discharge, 60,000 becquerels per liter……………………………………………

 Korea Herald 1st June 2023

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?mp=1&np=1&ud=20230601000750

June 4, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans, radiation, wastes | Leave a comment

Dismay in the region over Japan’s plan for nuclear waste water

Nuclear Waste in Pacific Ocean: Japan’s Plan Triggers Controversy

Japan plans to discharge millions of metric tonnes of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. This wastewater has been accumulating since disaster struck the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011. Japan is running out of storage space for this wastewater, which is why it is desperately trying to dump the waste in the ocean. But Tokyo’s plan is marred with controversy, with physical protests being arranged against it as well. Watch this Vantage report to know more.

June 3, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

TEPCO faces new crisis over pedestal blow at Fukushima plant

May 30, 2023  https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14920197

Damage to a pedestal inside the No. 1 reactor at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is more critical than previously believed, triggering a more intricate assessment of its resistance to a major earthquake. 

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has no time to waste in confronting the issue. It must swiftly assess the damage and take effective action to prevent an accident or leak of radioactive materials.

An underwater robotic probe detected the damage in late March. It found that the metal framework lies exposed along the inner side of the pedestal’s wall for about 1 meter from its bottom and for the entire inner circumference as concrete in these areas has been lost.

There are fears the containment vessel that houses the pressure vessel could crack if the pedestal collapses in a severe earthquake. That could cause radioactive materials to leak.

Referring to the structure’s current earthquake resistance, TEPCO stressed that the pedestal has managed to support the reactor vessel even though the plant “has experienced strong earthquakes.” The utility cited one last year that registered lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7.

Although the possibility of the pressure vessel tilting or sinking cannot be ruled out, the company asserts the impact will be limited with no risk of radioactive material leaking to the outside.

 the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said last week it could not decide whether the assumptions underlying TEPCO’s risk assessment are accurate as the extent of damage and condition of the structural materials are not yet fully understood. The nuclear safety watchdog also said it would be difficult to reinforce the pedestal because of high radiation levels inside the containment vessel.

For this reason, the NRA called on the utility to evaluate the impact of a possible release of radioactive material into the environment and consider steps to deal with such an emergency.

As one NRA official put it, “I should say (TEPCO’s evaluation) is too optimistic, and it is difficult to say that is very reassuring.”

NRA Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka said at a news conference, “It is TEPCO’s responsibility to swiftly assess what risks could impact the surrounding environment and its residents.”

Conditions surrounding the reactors that suffered core meltdowns in the nuclear disaster 12 years ago are only now finally being clarified. This has led to the discovery of additional problems that are already difficult to deal with, making the outlook of progress toward decommissioning the reactors even more uncertain.

The degradation of plant parts and materials will continue in the coming years. There is always the risk of a major earthquake striking the plant. Each time it is hit by a strong quake, the damage accumulates and the danger increases. If a radioactive leak occurs, it will seriously compromise the safety of residents, the reconstruction of the local communities and the local fishing industry.

The NRA this month decided not to lift a ban on the movement of nuclear fuel within TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, citing flawed measures to protect the facility against terrorist attacks. There are growing concerns about whether TEPCO is equipped to operate nuclear power plants.

There is absolutely no room for complacency when it comes to the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. TEPCO must always remain vigilant to a worst-case scenario in tackling related challenges.

June 1, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, safety | Leave a comment

IAEA team in Japan for final review before planned discharge of Fukushima nuclear plant water.

abc news, 29 May 23

An International Atomic Energy Agency team has arrived in Tokyo for a final review before Japan begins releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, a plan that has been strongly opposed b…

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press, May 29, 2023

TOKYO — An International Atomic Energy Agency team arrived in Tokyo on Monday for a final review before Japan begins releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, a plan that has been strongly opposed by local fishing communities and neighboring countries.

The team, which includes experts from 11 countries, will meet with officials from the government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, and visit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant during their five-day visit, the economy and industry ministry said………………………………

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides is unknown and the release should be delayed.

Japan’s government has stepped up campaigns in Japanese media and at food fairs to promote the safety of seafood from Fukushima, while providing regular briefings to foreign governments including South Korea and members of the Pacific Islands Forum.

…………………. Japanese officials say the water stored in the tanks needs to be removed to prevent accidental leaks in case of another disaster and to make room for the plant’s decommissioning. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/iaea-team-japan-final-review-planned-discharge-fukushima-99669696

May 31, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans | Leave a comment

Fukushima reactor 1 found to have damaged pedestal supporting nuclear core

(Picture above is of the same structure one year previously)

A nuclear watchdog has asked the operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima
nuclear power station to assess potential risks from damage found in a key
supporting structure inside the worst-hit of the three melted reactors. A
robotic probe inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s Unit 1
primary containment chamber found its pedestal — a main supporting
structure right underneath the core — was largely damaged. The thick
concrete exterior was missing almost all the way around, exposing the
internal steel reinforcement. About 800 tonnes of highly radioactive melted
nuclear fuel remain inside the plant’s three reactors.

LBC 25th May 2023

https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/8af57263389e457aa47b8846ede3d7b0/

May 28, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Japan Nuclear Watchdog Asks Fukushima Plant Operator to Assess Reactor Risk

Photo May 22– damaged pedestal supporting reactor core, Unit 1

By Mari Yamaguchi | May 26, 2023

TOKYO (AP) – A nuclear watchdog has asked the operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant to assess possible risks resulting from damage that was found in a key supporting structure inside one of the three melted reactors.

A robotic probe sent inside the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s Unit 1 primary containment chamber found that its pedestal – the main supporting structure directly under its core – was extensively damaged. Most of its thick concrete exterior was missing, exposing the internal steel reinforcement.

About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the plant’s three damaged reactors. Robotic probes have provided some information, but the status of the melted debris is still largely unknown.

Based on data collected from earlier probes and simulations, experts have said most of the melted fuel inside Unit 1, believed to be the worst hit, fell to the bottom of the primary containment chamber, but some might have fallen through to the concrete foundation – a situation that makes the already daunting task of decommissioning extremely difficult.

At a meeting Wednesday of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, its commissioners agreed to order operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings to urgently assess the risks from the pedestal damage, including the possible leak of radioactive substances from cracks and holes caused by the meltdown. The authority also requested that TEPCO assess potential risks if, in the event of another disaster, the pedestal fails to support the reactor.

”We need to think about responses in case of an accident,” commissioner Shinsuke Yamanaka told reporters. “TEPCO has a responsibility to make the risk assessment as soon as possible.”…………………………………………………….

The damage is believed to be from the initial earthquake in 2011, but might have happened more recently. The images of the exposed steel reinforcement have triggered concerns among local residents about the reactor’s safety.

A plan to release treated, but still slightly radioactive, water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant into the sea has also triggered concerns and protests from the local fishing community and neighboring countries, including South Korea.

A South Korean delegation of government experts visited the plant for two days this week to see the facilities related to the planned water release. The team members were to meet with Japanese officials on Thursday in Tokyo, where they said they plan to follow the review of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been assisting Japan to improve transparency and credibility………………….  https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/international/2023/05/26/317199.htm—

May 28, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Japan hopes to start discharging Fukushima nuclear wastewater in July

Gong Zhe  https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-04-23/Japan-hopes-to-start-discharging-Fukushima-nuclear-wastewater-in-July-1jfbTfpbNvy/index.html

Japan is hoping to start discharging radioactive waste water from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean in July.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) told Kyoto News on Saturday that the excavator is near the exit of the tunnel located one-kilometer offshore. The 1,030-meter tunnel is used to discharge the treated water stored in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. As long as 1,017 meters of the tunnel have been excavated.

TEPCO is trying to complete the tunnel and other facilities related to water discharging before the end of June, and the possibility of starting discharge operations as early as July has increased.

The Japanese government and TEPCO are trying to start discharging around this summer, but fishermen and others continue to oppose it. The plan faces opposition at home and has raised “grave concern” in neighboring countries, including but not limited to China and South Korea.

TEPCO plans to use a large amount of seawater for dilution to make the activity of tritium in treated water less than one-fortieth of national standards, and then discharge it through a seabed tunnel. It is expected to be discharged for several decades.

April 25, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans | Leave a comment

Fukushima’s fishing industry survived a nuclear disaster. 12 years on, it fears Tokyo’s next move may finish it off.

By Emiko Jozuka, Krystina Shveda, Junko Ogura, Marc Stewart and Daniel Campisi, CNN, April 19, 2023

It is still morning when Kinzaburo Shiga, 77, returns to Onahama port after catching a trawler full of fish off Japan’s eastern coast.

But the third-generation fisherman won’t head straight to market. First, he’ll test his catch for radiation.

It’s a ritual he’s repeated for more than a decade since a devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in 2011, spewing deadly radioactive particles into the surrounding area.

Radiation from the damaged nuclear plant leaked into the sea, prompting authorities to suspend fishing operations off the coast of three prefectures that had previously provided Japan with half of its catch.

That ban lasted over a year and even after it was lifted, Fukushima-based fishermen like Shiga were for years mostly limited to collecting samples for radioactivity tests on behalf of the state-owned electricity firm Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, rather than taking their catches to market.

Ocean currents have since dispersed the contaminated water enough that radioactive Cesium is nearly undetectable in fish from Fukushima prefecture. Japan lifted its last remaining restrictions on fish from the area in 2021, and most countries have eased import restrictions.

Shiga and others in the industry thought they’d put the nightmare of the past years behind them.

So when Japan followed through on plans to gradually release more than 1 million metric tons of filtered wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from the summer of 2023 – an action the government says is necessary to decommission the plant safely – the industry reeled.

The Japanese government and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United Nations body promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, say the controlled release, which is expected to take decades, will meet international safety regulations and not harm the environment, as the water will be treated to remove radioactive elements – with the exception of tritium – and diluted more than 100 times.

But with the deadline for the planned water release looming this summer, Fukushima’s fishermen fear that – whether the release is safe or not – the move will undermine consumer confidence in their catches and once again threaten the way of life they have fought so hard to recover…………………………………………………………………..

While radioactive wastewater contains dangerous elements including Cesium and Strontium, TEPCO says the majority of those particles can be separated from the water and removed. TEPCO claims its filtering system, called advanced liquid processing (ALPS), can bring down the amount of those elements far below regulatory standards.

But one hydrogen isotope cannot be taken away, as there is currently no technology available to do so. This isotope is radioactive tritium, and the scientific community is divided on the risk its dissemination carries………………………………………………………

“For decades, nuclear power plants worldwide – including in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, China and South Korea – have been releasing waste contaminated with tritium, each under its own national quota,” said Tim Mousseau, an environmental scientist at the University of South Carolina.

But Mousseau argues tritium is overlooked because many countries are invested in nuclear energy, and “there’s no way to produce it without also generating vast amounts of tritium.”

“If people started picking on TEPCO in Fukushima, then the practice of releasing tritium to the environment in all of these other nuclear power plants would need to be examined as well. So, it opens up a can of worms,” he said, adding the biological consequences of exposure to tritium have not been studied sufficiently.

In 2012, a French literature review study said tritium can be toxic to the DNA and reproductive processes of aquatic animals, particularly invertebrates, and the sensitivity of different species to various levels of tritium needs to be further investigated.

Currently, countries set different standards for the concentration of tritium allowed in drinking water. For example. Australia, which has no nuclear power plants, allows more than 76,000 becquerel per liter, a measure used to gauge radioactivity, while the WHO’s limit is 10,000. Meanwhile, the US and the European Union have much more conservative limits – 740 and 100 becquerel per liter respectively.

Ian Fairlie, an independent consultant on radioactivity in the environment, told CNN that “two wrongs don’t make a right” when it comes to Japan’s decision to release tritiated water. He argues TEPCO should build more storage tanks to allow for the decay of the radioactive tritium, which has a half-life of 12.3 years.

Lack of trust for the ‘nuclear village’

In Japan, the Fukushima wastewater issue has become highly contentious due to a lack of trust among influential advocates of nuclear energy, or what’s locally known as the “nuclear village.”

The informal group includes members of Japan’s ruling party (the Liberal Democratic Party), the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry and the nuclear industry.

“(The nuclear village) used to tell us that nuclear energy is 100% safe – but it wasn’t, as the Fukushima Daiichi plant accident revealed,” said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University, in Tokyo.

A series of missteps after the disaster further eroded public trust, according to a 2016 report written by Kohta Juraku, a researcher at Tokyo Denki University.

For instance, in 2012, the government and TEPCO presented a proposed action plan to local fishing representatives that involved pumping up groundwater before it flooded into the nuclear reactor buildings and releasing it into the sea. Fishing bodies were on board but the plan was it postponed until 2014 after 300 tons of radioactive water leaked from the plant into the sea, infuriating fishers………………………………………  https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/19/asia/japan-fukushima-disaster-wastewater-fishing-concerns-hnk-dst-dg-intl/index.html

April 20, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, environment, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Ignoring science, environmental protection and international law – G7 endorses Japan’s Fukushima water discharge plans

Greenpeace International, 16 April 2023  https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/59193/science-environmental-protection-international-law-g7-japans-fukushima-water-discharge/

Legacy of Fukushima disaster shows nuclear energy is no solution to energy and climate crisis.

Sapporo, Japan – The nations of the G7 have chosen politics over science and the protection of the marine environment with their decision today to support the Japanese government’s plans to discharge Fukushima radioactive waste water into the Pacific Ocean. 

The 1.3 million cubic meters/tons of radioactive waste water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, currently in tanks, is scheduled to be discharged into the Pacific Ocean this year. Nations in the Asia Pacific region, led by the Pacific Island Forum, have strongly voiced their opposition to the plans.[1] Some of the world’s leading oceanographic institutes and marine scientists have criticised the weakness of the scientific justification applied by TEPCO, the owner of the nuclear plant, warned against using the Pacific Ocean as a dumping ground for radioactive contaminated water, and called for alternatives to discharge to be applied.[2]

“The Japanese government is desperate for international endorsement for its Pacific Ocean radioactive water dump plans. It has failed to protect its own citizens, including the vulnerable fishing communities of Fukushima, as well as nations across the wider Asia Pacific region. The aftermath of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima is still strongly felt, and the Japanese government has failed to fully investigate the effects of discharging multiple radionuclides on marine life. The government is obligated under international law to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact assessment, including the impact of transboundary marine pollution, but has failed to do so. Its plans are a violation of the UN Convention Law of the Sea.

The marine environment is under extreme pressure from climate change, overfishing and resource extraction. Yet, the G7 thinks it’s acceptable to endorse plans to deliberately dump nuclear waste into the ocean. Politics inside the G7 at Sapporo just trumped science, environmental protection, and international law,” said Shaun Burnie, Senior Nuclear Specialist at Greenpeace East Asia.

Greenpeace East Asia analysis has detailed the failures of liquid waste processing technology at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and the environmental threats posed by the releases.[3] There is no prospect of an end to the nuclear crisis at the plant as current decommissioning plans are not feasible. Furthermore, the report finds the nuclear fuel debris in the reactors cannot be completely removed and will continue to contaminate the ground water over many decades.[4] Claims that the discharges will take 30 years is inaccurate as in reality, it will continue into the next century. Viable alternatives to discharge, specifically long term storage and processing, have been ignored by the Japanese government.[3] 

The Japanese government’s attempt to normalise the Fukushima nuclear disaster is directly linked to its overall energy policy objective of increasing the operation of nuclear reactors again after the 2011 disaster. 54 reactors were available in 2011 compared to only ten reactors in 2022, generating 7.9% of the nation’s electricity in FY21 compared to 29% in 2010.[5]  Meanwhile, five of the other six G7 governments led by France, the US and the UK are also aggressively promoting nuclear power development. 

The idea that the nuclear industry is capable of delivering a safe and sustainable energy future is delusional and a dangerous distraction from the only viable energy solution to the climate emergency which is 100% renewable energy. The global growth of low cost renewable energy has been phenomenal – but it has to be much faster and at an even greater scale if carbon emissions are to be reduced by 2030. Approval for nuclear waste dumping and nuclear energy expansion sound like the 1970’s but we have no time for such distractions. We are in a race to save the climate in the 21st century, and only renewables can deliver this,” said Shaun Burnie.

April 17, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans, wastes | Leave a comment

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