The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday
unveiled a plan to dump scrubbed water directly into the ocean, sparking
concerns over whether it would be properly decontaminated.
The plan, which still needs approval from the nuclear agency and
local residents, comes as workers are locked in a daily struggle to
safely store radioactive water used to cool reactors that went into
meltdown after Japan’s 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.
The tainted water is stored in hundreds of on-site tanks but operator
Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has admitted that it’s running out of
space.
It is also fighting to contain contaminated groundwater around the
plant from seeping into the ocean, more than three years after the worst
atomic crisis in a generation.
The vast utility said it now wants to start pumping out the
underground water, purify it with a state-of-the-art cleaning system and
then release it back into the ocean.
“But we know we have to get an agreement from the relevant government
authorities, the prefecture and local fishing unions,” a company
spokesman said.
The firm says it would significantly cut down on the amount of
tainted groundwater flowing under the plant, after announcing earlier
this year that it was building an “ice wall”—freezing the ground around
the plant—to staunch the flow.
But the firm has long faced criticism over delays in disclosing key
information and for continued safety problems at the crippled facility.
“We’ve not been told about details of this plan to release water into
the ocean… but I think most of the fishermen will be against it,” said
Kenji Nakada, an official at the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of
Fisheries Co-operative Associations.
Hisayo Takada from Greenpeace Japan questioned the plan’s safety.
“I also wonder if TEPCO has a backup plan for the worst case
scenario, such as the purification facility not working effectively,”
she said.
The plant’s current purification system—Advanced Liquid Processing
System (ALPS)—has been hit by a series of glitches since trial
operations began last year.
AFP
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