Protests in various locations demanding withdrawal of ocean discharge of treated water from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
April 13, 2022
On the 13th, one year after the government decided to discharge treated water from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Okuma and Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture) into the ocean, protests were held in various locations, with participants calling for the withdrawal of the policy.
In front of the House of Representatives building in Nagata-cho, Tokyo, about 40 people participated in response to a call from the “Sayonara NPP 10 Million People Action Executive Committee” and other groups. Holding up banners, they shouted “Don’t pollute the sea in Fukushima” and “Listen to the voices of the people of Fukushima.
The participants made speeches in turn toward the Diet building. Taeko Fujimura, 67, a member of the National Trade Union Liaison Council, criticized the government and TEPCO, saying, “The government and TEPCO promised the Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Federation that they would not discharge the waste into the ocean without their understanding, but they unilaterally decided on the policy and have not explained it in good faith to the public. No matter how much we dilute it with seawater, it is inevitable that a large amount of radioactive materials will spread into the ocean. There must be something more that can be done, such as finding a way to continue storing the radioactive materials instead of discharging them.
Toshihiro Inoue, 63, a member of the executive committee secretariat, said, “The government has forcibly decided on this policy, and even after a year, it has not withdrawn it in spite of opposition. The global environment must not be further destroyed by radioactive pollution. Let’s continue to raise our voices in opposition.
The executive committee held protests at more than 10 locations in Tokyo and eight prefectures in Saitama, Yamagata, Aichi, Osaka, Okayama, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima.
The environmental group FoE Japan also held an online press conference on the same day, calling for storage of the treated water in large tanks and solidification with cement. Don’t pollute the sea any more!” Chiyo Oda, co-chairperson of the “Citizens’ Council,” said, “Once released, it is irreversible. Artificially spreading radioactive materials will spread the effects of the accident and must not be tolerated. (Kenta Onozawa)
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/171455?rct=national&fbclid=IwAR3yz25OB-5W85giS7pp3nPYRVtzYjdQOFoIhsB92n7co9wkYzDe0nM8WoQ
Don’t discharge contaminated water into the sea! Nationwide simultaneous standing in Iwaki
April 13, 2022
On April 13, 2021, one year after the government decided on the disposal of contaminated water stored in tanks from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, in violation of its promise to the fishing industry that no disposal would take place without the understanding of all concerned parties, and ignoring the opposition and cautious opinions of 70% of the local government councils in Fukushima Prefecture and the opposition of many Fukushima residents One year has passed.
On April 13, “April 13 National Simultaneous Standing in Iwaki Against Discharge of Contaminated Water from Nuclear Power Plants into the Sea” was held near the entrance intersection of Aquamarine Fukushima at Onahama Port in Iwaki City.
Since last June, we have been calling for a monthly standing on the 13th of every month, “Don’t pollute the sea any more! Citizens’ Council”, which has been calling for standing on the 13th every month since June last year, started the event after noon with the slogan “Protect our hometown oceans! Protect our fisheries! Protect our children!” From 12:30 p.m., about 20 participants spoke against the discharge of contaminated water into the ocean from their respective standpoints.
Mr. Oda, the co-chairperson of the event, said, “One year has passed since the government’s decision on April 13 to discharge contaminated water into the ocean, so let’s not pollute the sea any more! He reported on the release of the “Appeal” and the citizens’ groups’ online joint press conference, and appealed, “We will continue to raise our voices to protect our precious daily lives. Mr. Yoneyama of the Citizens’ Council also spoke with the Citizens’ Circle to Monitor Nuclear Regulations, FoE Japan, an international environmental NGO, and Don’t Pollute the Sea Anymore! The report was based on the “Submission of a written request and negotiations with TEPCO and the government demanding the cessation of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant” held on March 29 by four organizations: the Citizens’ Council of Japan, the Kansai Liaison Conference for the Evacuation Plan, and the Kansai Liaison Conference for the Evacuation Plan. The speaker appealed to the audience. Prefectural Councilor Furuichi also reported on how the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly continued to review the “petition for a cautious response to the application for prior consent regarding the ALPS process water discharge facility” submitted to the assembly, and stressed the significance of citizens’ continued opposition activities. Mr. Yuzuru Suzuki, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and former director of the Fisheries Experiment Station, also spoke about what would happen to fish if tritium and other contaminated water were to be released, saying that they are currently in the process of collecting data before the release of water. He expressed his determination that even if the release of contaminated water were to be forced, he would continue marine research to clarify the effects of radiation and force the cancellation of the project. After this, citizens continued to demonstrate their will by making one appeal after another.
The public comment on the draft review report will be held once the review meeting for the “Application for Approval of Changes to the Implementation Plan” for the basic design of the “ALPS process water” dilution and discharge system and related facilities, which TEPCO applied to the Nuclear Regulation Authority at the end of last year, is completed on March 15. After that, if Fukushima Prefecture, Okuma Town, and Futaba Town give their approval to the “Request for Prior Approval,” construction will begin in June.
The oceans of our hometown, the oceans of Japan, and the oceans of the world must not be further polluted by radiation.
Let’s not allow the construction of the discharge facility to start in June, and let’s spread our voices of opposition and our standing circle across the country and the world like a ripple to a giant wave in order to stop the discharge of radioactive materials one year later.
On May 13, together with standing, we will prepare and call for an action to demand the halt of the start of construction of the discharge facility.
Let us all protect the oceans of our hometown, the oceans of Japan, and the oceans of the world.
One year after the decision to discharge contaminated water into the ocean: Three videos on contaminated water from ALPS treatment released
April 13, 2022
On April 13, 2021, the government decided to release ALPS-treated contaminated water into the ocean.
The water stored in the tanks, once treated by ALPS, contains not only tritium but also residual radioactive materials such as cesium-134, cesium-137, strontium-90, iodine-129, and plutonium, exceeding the standard in about 70% of the cases. TEPCO has stated that it will conduct secondary treatment, but has not clarified which radioactive materials will ultimately remain and how much.
In August 2015, the government and TEPCO promised the Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Federation that they would not carry out any disposal without the understanding of all concerned. After the decision to discharge the waste into the ocean, TEPCO President Kobayakawa stated, “We have no intention of reneging on our promise. However, despite the opposition of fishermen, consumers, and a wide range of citizens in and outside of Fukushima Prefecture, procedures are steadily underway to release the waste into the ocean.
Against this backdrop, FoE Japan has created a series of short videos to get people to think about the issue of discharging contaminated water from the ALPS process into the ocean. The videos pick up on various issues surrounding ALPS-treated contaminated water. What is contaminated water? What’s in it?” , “What is tritium?” , “What are the alternatives?” and “What do the people have to say?” (to be released) (each is less than 2 minutes and 20 seconds). Please take a look.
1 What is contaminated water? What is contained?
2 What is tritium?
3 What is the alternative?
Fisheries opposed to Fukushima water discharge, trade group tells PM
April 5, 2022
TOKYO (Kyodo) — A major fisheries group in Japan told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Tuesday it remains firmly opposed to the planned discharge of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea due to concern over negative impact on the industry.
“I told (Kishida) our position to oppose (the discharge) remains exactly the same,” Hiroshi Kishi, head of the national fisheries cooperatives, told reporters after visiting the prime minister’s office.
It was the first meeting between the head of the national fisheries cooperatives and Japan’s prime minister since April last year when the decision was made to release treated low-level radioactive water into the sea from around the spring of 2023.
Then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the policy without gaining consent from the fisheries group.
Kishida said the government will be fully responsible for the impact of the discharged treated water and vowed to support fishermen, according to Kishi and officials who attended the meeting.
“Steady progress in the decommissioning (of the Fukushima plant) is a prerequisite for reconstruction (of the affected areas), and we cannot avoid the issue of how to dispose of treated water,” Kishida said. “We will continue to exchange opinions and will make all-out efforts to tackle harmful rumors.”
Earlier in the day, Kishi conveyed similar concern to industry minister Koichi Hagiuda. “We just hope people in the fisheries industry will be able to continue fishing with peace of mind,” he told reporters after seeing Hagiuda in the federation’s office in Tokyo.
During the meeting, Hagiuda handed the group answers in writing to five requests it had submitted.
The government pledged in the document to ensure the safety of treated water as well as take appropriate measures to prevent and tackle reputational damage to food products, among others.
Hagiuda also told the federation it will stick to its promise to the fishermen that the Fukushima plant will not release the water into the sea without their understanding.
The minister told reporters that Kishi “understands the recovery of Fukushima will not complete without disposal of treated water” and expressed hope that the government will “clear anxiety of fishermen by taking appropriate measures.”
The government has already set up a 30 billion yen ($245 million) fund to support the fisheries industry and pledged to buy seafood when demand falls due to harmful rumors.
In the meantime, more than 1 million tons of treated water has accumulated on the premises of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.
The water, which was contaminated after being pumped in to cool melted reactor fuel, is treated through an advanced liquid processing system that removes radionuclides except for tritium.
Before discharge, it will be diluted with seawater below one 40th of the current regulations, according to the government. It will also be lower than the World Health Organization’s tritium limit in drinking water.
Earlier this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency evaluated the safety of the release of treated water by sending a task force to the Fukushima plant to enhance transparency of the discharge plan and gain international understanding.
In addition to Japan’s local fishing communities, neighboring China and South Korea have also expressed their worries over the water discharge plan.
TEPCO to grow fish at nuclear plant to show water safety
No, it is not for April Fools’ Day only, for Tepco it is Fool’s Day everyday
April 1, 2022
Tokyo Electric Power Co. will raise seafood at its stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in a bid to ease concerns about its plan to release treated radioactive water stored there into the ocean.
“We want to contribute to dispelling the public’s anxiety and reassuring people,” a TEPCO representative said.
The government and TEPCO last year announced the plan to treat and then discharge contaminated water accumulating at the nuclear plant into the ocean starting as early as spring 2023. More than 1 million tons of water have already been stored.
Local residents and fisheries industry officials, worried about reputational damage to marine products caused by the water release, asked the utility to demonstrate the safety of the water that will be discharged instead of just spouting off technical terms.
They suggested that TEPCO keep fish at the plant to show that the processed water will pose no health risk.
The water treatment process removes most radioactive substances, but not tritium. The water will be diluted with seawater to reduce the tritium concentration to less than 1,500 becquerels per liter, one-40th the legal standard.
On experts’ advice, TEPCO decided to culture flatfish and abalone on a trial basis because both species can be caught off Fukushima Prefecture and grown easily.
Preliminary farming started in March in seawater at the plant to gain expertise.
Around September, the utility will begin growing 600 flatfish and 600 abalone. Some will be raised in ordinary seawater while others will be in treated and diluted water containing tritium at the same level of the water that will be discharged.
The concentration of tritium and other substances in the creatures’ bodies will be analyzed, as will their growth rates in the two sets of tanks.
A continuing video of the experiment will be made available on the internet.
TEPCO said it expects the raised fish to have tritium readings similar to those in the water of their farming tanks. So the figure for flatfish raised in the processed water will likely be higher than their seawater-cultivated counterparts.
“We hope to counter negative publicity by showing that fish can grow healthily (in the treated water),” a TEPCO official said.
No Fukushima Nuclear Discharge: Pacific Elders Voice statement
30 March 2022
Pacific Elders oppose the discharge of Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific Ocean saying it is unacceptable and contravenes international and regional agreements
We note, with deep concern, Japan’s decision to release treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
According to reports, the release of more than a million tonnes of water, which has been filtered to reduce radioactivity, could start in 2023.
We reiterate the observation by Secretary-General Henry Puna: “Our ultimate goal is to safeguard the Blue Pacific – our ocean, our environment, and our peoples- from any further nuclear contamination. This is the legacy we must leave for our children”.
Pollution of our ocean, and especially radioactive pollution, is unacceptable and contravenes international and regional agreements including the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, and the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty of Rarotonga.
A principal objective of the London Convention is to protect the marine environment from pollution, including man-made radioactivity. Under the Treaty of Rarotonga, States Parties are obligated to prevent the stationing of any nuclear explosive device; to prevent the testing of any nuclear explosive device; not to dump radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter at sea, anywhere within the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, and to prevent the dumping of radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter by anyone in the territorial sea of the States Parties.
We see many strong reasons to oppose the discharge of Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. The climate and biodiversity emergencies we currently face are already presenting severe threats to our waters, and so a decision by any government to deliberately contaminate the Pacific with radioactivity because it is the most cost-effective option seems perverse.
Japan has failed to consult with affected coastal countries, especially northern the Pacific Island States and no environmental impact assessment has been conducted. Furthermore, Japan has obligations not to allow pollution from their own waters to pollute international waters or the waters of other countries. When Pacific Islands Forum Leaders met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide at the 9th PALM Meeting in July 2021, they highlighted the priority of ‘ensuring international consultation, international law, and independent and verifiable scientific assessments with regards to Japan’s announcement’.
We feel this constitutes a disregard for the human rights of both Japanese citizens, as well as those in the wider Asia Pacific region, including indigenous peoples, and it is justifiably being challenged, not least by UN Human Rights Special Rapporteurs.
Japan is under an international legal obligation to take all measures possible to avoid transboundary pollution from radioactivity, and develop alternatives to dumping in the Pacific by continued storage and treating the water to remove radioactive, including carbon- 14 and tritium.
We observe that the International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that the discharges will be done safely and in line with international practice. It continues to play the same historical role as set down in its 1957 statute of supporting and promoting the interests of the nuclear industry, not protecting the environment or public health. Radioactivity discharged from a pipeline poses potentially a greater coastal threat to the marine environment than deep-sea dumping from a ship.
We welcome the recent appointment of an independent panel of global experts2 on nuclear issues to support Pacific nations. Their technical advice, based on scientific evidence, will help inform consultations with Japan over its intentions to discharge treated nuclear wastewater.
This story was originally published at Pacific Elders’ Voice on 30 March 2022, reposted via PACNEWS.
No Fukushima Nuclear Discharge: Pacific Elders Voice statement
11 years on, Fukushima radioactive waste still tough challenge for Japan
TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) — Eleven years after the quake-induced Fukushima disaster, the aftermath of the nuclear meltdown, not least a large amount of contaminated water, remains a grave challenge for Japan as well as for the rest of the world.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. An earthquake-triggered tsunami engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing core meltdowns in units one to three and leading to the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
Little progress has been made over the past year on the most pivotal and hardest work of decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi power plant — how to remove the nuclear residue from the meltdown. Japan’s International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning estimated that the total weight of nuclear waste mix from melted fuel rods and other materials in pressure vessels that melted during the accident could be 880 tons.
Since the end of 2011, No. 1 to No. 3 units have been in a stable state of low temperature cooling, but the internal radiation is still very high, making it difficult for personnel to work in close proximity. Relevant work has to rely on remote tools such as remotely controlled robots and mechanical arms, but not a single piece of nuclear residue has been removed so far. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said it plans to first try to remove the nuclear residue from unit 2 this year.
Hiroaki Koide, a retired researcher at Kyoto University, said the Japanese government and TEPCO’s 30-40 year “roadmap” for decommissioning the reactors was an “illusion” that could not be achieved because it would be “impossible even in 100 years” to remove the large amount of scattered nuclear debris, which would have to be sealed in a “sarcophagus.”
In April last year, the Japanese government officially decided to discharge the nuclear contaminated water into the sea starting in the spring of 2023. The contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant contains radioactive cesium, strontium, tritium and other radioactive substances.
The Japanese government and TEPCO said the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), a multi-nuclide removal system, can remove 62 radioactive substances except tritium, which is difficult to remove from water.
Japanese fishing groups strongly oppose the plan to discharge contaminated water into the sea. Opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, also criticized the Japanese government’s plan and demanded its withdrawal.
About 60 percent of the 42 mayors in the disaster-stricken Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures opposed the decision. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations submitted a statement opposing the plan to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and others, urging the government to consider other measures, such as mixing contaminated water with cement and sand.
At the invitation of Japan, an investigation team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Japan on Feb. 14-18 to complete its first field investigation.
Lydie Evrard, deputy director general of the IAEA, said Japan had studied several options for treating the contaminated water, but ultimately chose the option of discharging it into the sea, and the Japanese government invited the IAEA to conduct a safety review, hoping that the agency would give basic policy support to the treatment plan. What she pointed out was that it was up to the host country to decide how to deal with the contaminated water, and that the agency provides only technical assessments, not options.
China is seriously concerned about and firmly opposes Japan’s unilateral decision to discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the sea and its proceeding with the preparatory work, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian has said.
He stressed that the handling of the nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima is never Japan’s private matter. Instead, it bears on the marine environment and public health of the whole world.
Japan should heed and respond to the appeals of neighboring countries and the international community, and rescind the wrong decision of dumping the water into the sea. “It mustn’t wantonly start the ocean discharge before reaching consensus with stakeholders and relevant international institutions through full consultations,” Zhao said.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/20220312/cb7ee148bd8c4a9cb4f21a16f43d57fc/c.html
Fukushima spill plan goes ahead despite local opposition
March 10, 2022
By Antonio Hermosin Gandul
Tokyo, March 10 (EFE).- Japanese authorities continued with their plan to dump contaminated and processed water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in 2023, despite the rejection of local communities suffering the consequences of the nuclear disaster 11 years on.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant, damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, faces an uncertain dismantling process that will last beyond 2050, and in which the growing accumulation of radioactive water is the most urgent problem due to sort out.
TEPCO, the plant operator, and the Japanese government approved in April a plan to pour thousands of tons of water into the Pacific Ocean from 2023 after being treated. It’s a measure supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency that has generated strong opposition from local fishermen’s groups and environmental organizations.
Fukushima Daiichi faces a long list of unprecedented challenges in the history of nuclear energy, among which the removal of highly radioactive fuels from the reactors stands out, or the storage of these and other residues that represent a great risk to human health and the environment.
The most pressing of these headaches is what to do with the water contaminated with radioactive waste after it is used to cool reactors or leak into nuclear facilities, of which some 1.29 million cubic meters are accumulated in drums inside atomic facilities where space has run out.
After analyzing with a scientific panel a series of possible solutions of enormous technical complexity, including methods of evaporation or underground injection, authorities and TEPCO opted to dump all the water into the sea in front of the plant after decontaminating it.
The operator said the water will not represent any danger to human health or the environment, since its level of radioactivity will be “well below” the limits established by both Japan and the World Health Organization.
The water is subjected to a succession of filters that eliminate all radioactive materials considered dangerous with the exception of tritium, an isotope present in nature, although in low concentration.When diluted in seawater, this would generate ‘negligible’ levels of radiation, according to TEPCO and Japan’s government. EFE
Radioactive waste from contaminated water treatment, cleanup postponed. What we saw at the storage site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
March 11, 2022
The contaminated water containing high concentrations of radioactive materials that continues to be generated at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Okuma and Futaba towns, Fukushima Prefecture) is creating contaminated waste in the process of treatment and storage. On April 2, this paper’s team entered the plant premises and visited the storage site. TEPCO and the government plan to discharge the contaminated water into the ocean in the spring of 2023, but the cleanup of the massive amount of radioactive waste has been postponed. (Kenta Onozawa)
◆Enriched liquid waste “To be honest, there is no concrete plan.
We honestly don’t have a concrete plan for how to dispose of the waste,” said a TEPCO spokesperson with a pained expression on his face in a corner of the vast tank area on the west side of Units 1 through 4. In front of us, a covered shed surrounded by concrete walls. A horizontal light blue tank could be seen through a gap in the wall. The dosimeter he had brought with him read around 0.5 microsieverts per hour in the tank area, but the reading jumped to 4 microsieverts per hour near the hut.
The contents of the tank, which emitted intense radiation through the 20-centimeter-thick concrete, were “concentrated liquid waste” generated immediately after the accident. It is the precipitate from the process of desalinating highly contaminated water, which contained salt from the tsunami, and reusing it to cool the nuclear reactors.
The muddy condition makes it difficult to treat, and the high radiation dose makes it inaccessible; when Fukushima Prefecture checked the site in January 2008, the maximum radiation dose inside the wall was 800 microsieverts per hour. This is the annual exposure limit for an average person after spending one hour and 20 minutes at the site.
There are 200 cubic meters of muddy liquid waste and 9,000 tons of supernatant water. The contaminated water treatment process has stabilized and will not increase any further. TEPCO plans to begin experimental treatment in FY2011, but has not even begun to verify the method.
◆Contaminated plastic in “untouchable” reservoirs
To the north of the shed, there is a clearing that rises up like a ring, where the underground reservoir that caused the contaminated water leak in 2001 is buried.
At the time, the storage of contaminated water was on a tightrope. TEPCO, under pressure, dug a hole where a tank could not be built directly under the power lines, covered it with a water shield sheet, and filled it with a total of 24,000 tons of contaminated water, which mainly contained radioactive strontium. However, the water leaked underground and could no longer be used.
Although the contaminated water has been drained out, the plastic materials that were placed in the pond as reinforcement remain heavily contaminated. Standing on the pond, the dosimeter quickly read 3 microsieverts per hour. The spokesperson said in a low voice, “I think we could have removed the contaminated water if we had filled it with purified water, but now that we have filled it with contaminated water, it’s hard to do anything about it.
◆Waste continues to accumulate
The treated water that is planned to be discharged into the ocean is water that has been purified by a multinuclide removal system (ALPS). The treatment process also generates muddy waste, which is stored in a polyethylene container (1.5 meters in diameter, 1.8 meters high, and about 1 centimeter thick) called an HIC.
In the storage area on the south side of the site, the top of the HIC was visible inside the concrete wall. Some of the HICs containing high-dose sludge have already exceeded their useful life, and the number of such HICs will reach 87 at the end of FY2010. There are fears that they may break due to deterioration, and they are under pressure to be transferred to new containers. However, it has taken time to set up measures to protect the workers from radiation exposure, and the replacement of the heavily contaminated containers only began on February 22.
Once the discharge of treated water into the ocean begins, the number of storage tanks, which number approximately 1,000, will gradually decrease. However, there is no plan to eliminate the generation of contaminated water, and the purification process will continue. In the meantime, waste from the treatment process will continue to accumulate, so it is unacceptable to postpone the consideration of a long-term management method.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/164886?fbclid=IwAR3Gl8NO1JrwlhjZZdt3dSPjvmgjFUN22ctU96eQF0YstNai6HJsdmgHIWM
Booklets touting Fukushima plant water discharge angers schools
March 7, 2022
Complaints from educators have prompted some municipalities in coastal areas of the Tohoku region to stop schools from handing out government fliers to students or retrieve distributed ones that tout the safety of releasing treated water from a crippled nuclear plant into the ocean.
The government sent a total of 2.3 million booklets directly to elementary, junior and senior high schools across the nation in December in an effort to prevent reputational damage caused by the planned water discharge.
The school staffers say the leaflets are unilaterally imposing the central government’s views on children.
“There are both arguments for and against the processed water discharge program, but the materials impose the thought that it is safe on naive children in a one-sided manner,” said a principal of an elementary school in Miyagi Prefecture who described the fliers as “totally unacceptable” in the disaster-ravaged region.
The processed water at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is scheduled to be released into the sea in spring next year, but the plan is facing strong local opposition.
One of the two booklets in question targets elementary school students with the aim of promoting recovery from the nuclear crisis by instructing them on the disaster triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
It was developed by the economy ministry’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
The other was worked out by the Reconstruction Agency to educate junior and senior high school students on the three topics over contaminated water treated with the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS).
They arrived directly in schools along with supplementary textbooks of the education ministry on radiation.
The handbook for elementary school pupils describes the processed water as “so safe that people’s eating or drinking it would pose no health problems.”
Referring to a radioactive substance called tritium in the treated water, the leaflet for high schools states there “would be no health effects” and that kind of water “has already been discharged in oceans all over the world.”
A representative of the Reconstruction Agency said its material was distributed as “supplementary data to provide scientific explanations to prevent the spread of groundless rumors that cause reputational damage.”
Mitsunori Fukuda, a senior economy ministry official, said the leaflets are aimed at providing accurate information about the water discharge based on scientific evidence to minimize possible reputational damage.
“The ministry has no intention of requiring using the leaflets (at schools) and it is up to local governments to decide how to use them,” said Fukuda, director of the Nuclear Accident Response Office.
The central government in April last year announced a plan to release water contaminated in the Fukushima nuclear crisis into the sea in spring 2023 after removing most radioactive substances in it and diluting it with seawater.
Suffering negative effects of groundless rumors of contaminated products in the aftermath of the 2011 tremor, local fisheries associations are resolutely opposing the program. Miyagi Prefecture in November demanded the state “research disposal options other than oceanic discharge.”
On Feb. 21, four opposition parliamentary groups in the prefectural assembly submitted a request to the prefecture’s educational board to stop the fliers from reaching students.
“Though the issue is still being discussed, the materials convey information directly to children while presupposing the sea release,” said Miyuki Yusa, chair of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s caucus in the assembly.
Yusa insisted that concerns about the safety of treated contaminated water have yet to be dispelled.
Akiyo Ito, head of the secretariat of the prefectural education board, said the board is not planning to retrieve all the distributed leaflets, but acknowledged that the documents have been “sent directly to schools and have resulted in a mess, posing a problem.”
Many municipalities are embarrassed about the booklets.
In Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, the city education board instructed 23 elementary and junior high schools, except for two schools, to refrain from distributing the leaflets and keep them at the schools. The two schools had already handed out the fliers to students.
An education board official said the leaflets include contents sensitive to the city where the fisheries industry is essential to the local economy.
“We need more time to deliberate on how to deal with the issue,” the official said.
Kamaishi and Ofunato cities in the same prefecture issued similar instructions.
In Okuma, which co-hosts the Fukushima No. 1 plant in Fukushima Prefecture, officials distributed the fliers at junior high schools but decided not to do so in elementary schools.
In Iwaki in the same prefecture, the city education board sent a written notice to all elementary and junior high schools on Feb. 4, calling on them to refrain from using them in classes and store them at schools.
A junior high school teacher said the timing was inappropriate.
“It is important for children to know the actual situation but it is too early to distribute the leaflets when there are strong criticisms about the planned water discharge,” the teacher said.
Ishinomaki city in Miyagi Prefecture called on school operators to “cease handing the leaflets to students” because it has not examined the contents thoroughly.
As many people in the fisheries circle in Shichigahama are worried about the water release plan, the town has decided to retrieve booklets already distributed to first-graders at elementary and junior high schools.
“The materials were distributed at a significantly insensitive time in a terribly thoughtless manner,” said a member of the town’s education board. “It can’t be helped that people suspect they were sent out behind the backs of municipalities.”
Nobuo Takizawa, head of the secretariat for Natori city’s education board, pointed out the central government should have notified municipalities in advance.
“The documents were distributed to schools without the education boards being notified,” said Takizawa.
Yoshinori Hakui, a senior education ministry official, showed signs of remorse about the direct distribution of the leaflets to schools during a session of the Lower House Committee on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on March 2.
“We regret that we delivered the leaflets in a manner that was not careful enough. We could have made better coordination with the economy ministry and others,” said Hakui, director-general of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau.
Greenpeace says Fukushima dismantling, dumping not credible.
March 3, 2022
Tokyo, Mar 3 (EFE).- Greenpeace denounced Thursday the lack of clarity and “inconsistencies” in the dismantling project of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, calling it a “fantasy” and saying the discharge of the water contaminated and treated to the ocean “does not solve the crisis.
Eleven years after the earthquake and tsunami that led to one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, the environmental organization makes a new call for attention after reviewing multiple documents from different government agencies and industry.
“Decommissioning is not possible in 40 years. The government should announce how much progress has been made. We are still in the shadows,” nuclear engineering expert Satoshi Sato told media.
“We will have to deal with treated water for decades,” said the expert in relation to the discharge of treated water into the Pacific Ocean, a plan planned for the year 2023 and that the International Atomic Energy Agency recently evaluated in a mission to the country.
The expert spoke about the serious problems detected in the dismantling plan. These included the poor condition of the buildings and their continuous degradation, the challenges and “not very credible” plans for extracting the fuel, the high levels of radiation present, the exposure of workers and the amount of highly radioactive waste generated.
The extraction of fuel from the four reactors of the Daiichi plant “will lead to more contaminated water and the water will be dumped back into the ocean. The current roadmap is minimizing the human and environmental impact and dumping is not the solution,” Greenpeace nuclear specialist Shaun Burnie said.
“TEPCO has no intention of dismantling the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the next 20 or 30 years. It is a fantasy and a much longer process than what they have explained to us,” said Burnie, stressing the need to inform affected communities in detail.
“The long-term consequences cannot be dismissed, because this transcends generations and this fact should be crucial when addressing the problem, and not the official agenda of the actors involved,” Burnie criticized the roadmap approved by the Japanese government.
Reconstruction Agency Distributes “Treated Water Fliers,” Causing Puzzled Voices from the Education Sector
February 25, 2022
The Reconstruction Agency has distributed flyers to schools across Japan asking for their understanding of the increasing release of treated water containing tritium and other radioactive materials from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
From December to January of last year, the Reconstruction Agency distributed flyers to junior high schools and high schools across the country explaining about the treated water containing tritium and other radioactive materials.
The fliers stated that “tritium is all around us” and “there is no concern about the effects on your health”, etc. The government distributed the fliers in the hope that people would have a correct understanding based on scientific evidence and not be misled by false information.
However, while there are deep-rooted voices against the release of tritium and other treated water into the ocean, such as those from the fishing industry, there are many confused voices from the educational field.
The principal of a junior high school in Hamadori said, “To be honest, I was puzzled by the handling of the flyers. Treated water is a delicate issue, and since Hamadori is the site itself, we have to be more sensitive to it,” he said, and decided not to distribute the flyers to students.
In addition, some school boards around the country have voiced their discomfort with the contents of the flyer, saying, “We would like to carefully judge whether it is appropriate to use this flyer in radiation education,” and “The government should check the contents more before distributing it.
Mr. Nishimei, the Minister of Reconstruction, said, “We did not anticipate that there would be confusion when we distributed the leaflets. I had no idea that something like this would happen in the field.
On the other hand, Shinobu Goto, an associate professor at Fukushima University’s Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Engineering, who is an expert on radiation education, said, “In the field of education, it is especially important to enable discussion from multiple perspectives. It is necessary to discuss together with those who oppose the release of radiation, including the reasons why they oppose it,” he said, pointing out the importance of providing opportunities to learn about diverse opinions in the field of education.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/fukushima/20220225/6050017355.html?fbclid=IwAR33ufbih6A7hS5nn5L-AWmIkrYitrgetG1D8usDX8UXvmyjon0W8DHitE4
Some local governments have stopped distributing flyers directly to schools saying that treated water from nuclear power plants is safe
February 22, 2022
A government flyer emphasizing the safety of treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has been distributed to educational facilities in Miyagi Prefecture, causing a stir. Some schools have stopped distributing the leaflets amid deep-rooted opposition to the planned release of treated water into the ocean next spring. There is criticism that the government is unilaterally not imposing safety.
There are two types of flyers: one for elementary school students, “The push for reconstruction starts with knowing” (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy), and another for junior and senior high school students, “Three things you should know about ALPS treated water” (Reconstruction Agency). These were sent directly to each school in December last year, enclosed in a supplementary reader on radiation prepared by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Approximately 2.3 million copies were distributed nationwide to elementary, junior high, and high schools.
In the flyer for elementary school students, the treated water is introduced as “safe for human consumption and drinking. For junior and senior high school students, the flyers said that tritium, a radioactive substance contained in the treated water, “does not pose a health risk” and “is already being discharged into the ocean around the world.
A representative of the Reconstruction Agency said, “We sent the letter as supplementary material to provide scientific explanations to prevent harmful rumors from spreading.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/4e90162f416b1dc1d88618a136371e2a296d24be?fbclid=IwAR2cZSiMyy0u5ZRy3dNF8eupT9T9bgpR4E2Z3b7DPISHfk2ouBcGebhrpnc
Miyagi prefectural assembly: “Don’t hand out flyers to schools about treated nuclear water
2022/02/21
On February 21, opposition members of the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly asked the prefecture not to distribute flyers directly to schools in Miyagi Prefecture, saying that treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will be safely disposed of in the sea.
Fourteen members of the opposition faction of the prefectural assembly submitted the request to Miyagi Prefecture.
In December 021, the national government issued a flyer to schools across Japan stating that the tritium-containing treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which is scheduled to be released into the ocean in the spring of 2023, will be “safely disposed of in the ocean.
In the letter of request submitted on the 21st of February, it was stated that the safety of tritium is not in question. In the letter of request submitted on December 21, the prefectural government was requested that the leaflets not be distributed to children and students in the prefecture, saying that even experts have different opinions on the safety of to be released water which is claimed in the leaflets.
The prefectural government responded that it is not planning to collect the flyers at prefectural schools and will leave the decision on municipal schools to the respective boards of education.
The lawmakers plan to ask the government for an explanation through their political parties.
IAEA ‘will not approve or oppose’ release of treated water from Fukushima plant, ‘responsibility of each country’
February 19, 2022
The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) survey team, which is examining the safety of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s treated water release plan, said that they will not oppose or approve the release.
IAEA Deputy Director General Liddy Evrard, who is visiting Japan to lead the survey team, said, “The IAEA does not approve or oppose the decision. The IAEA does not approve or oppose the decision, as it was made under the responsibility of each country.
The IAEA does not approve or oppose decisions because they are made under the responsibility of individual countries,” he said, adding that “the decision to oppose or approve a project related to nuclear safety must be made by the national regulatory body.
When asked if there were any other options other than oceanic release, Mr. Evrard said that consideration of other options had been completed in the past, and that this activity was being undertaken in response to a request for technical assistance from Japan, which had decided on the oceanic release plan.
Under-Secretary General Evrard explained the IAEA’s role as “helping countries improve their nuclear safety regulations through internationally accepted safety standards and providing mutual assessments of the adequacy of equipment to maintain safety.
“The role of the IAEA is not to be involved in regulation on the ground,” he answered, “but to visit the site as necessary at specific stages.” When asked if the IAEA would station nuclear experts with good command of Japanese to fully grasp the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, he said, “The role of the IAEA is not to be involved in regulation on the ground.
Under-Secretary-General Evrard stressed that “we listen carefully to their concerns, as a matter of priority,” regarding the opposition to the release of treated water into the ocean in South Korea and Japan.
However, when asked, “In the course of this investigation, have you met or do you have plans to meet with people who are opposed to oceanic release, such as those involved in fishermen’s groups and environmental groups?” Mr. Gustavo Caruso, coordinator of the IAEA’s Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate, replied, “We will meet with the people decided by the Japanese government.
Gustavo Caruso, coordinator of the IAEA’s Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate, replied, “We will meet with a person to be decided by the Japanese government,” adding, “We will evaluate the report based on IAEA safety standards and make it public later so that anyone can see it. The report on the investigation activities is expected to be released around the end of April.
During the visit, the IAEA team will take samples of treated water and other materials stored in tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and analyze them at three laboratories in Monaco, Austria and other countries.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2788b6b92e30ddf25df98c1f880848edfe385ad9?fbclid=IwAR1cBVbP8xhe47ZZOH98xm5u88E0BiIBh51DwCPgExFNWCBAVRnfzg51lsg
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