More than one million tons of water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (PLTN) will begin flowing into the sea in a few months. The move sparked outrage among the local fishing community and countries in the region.
The decision to release Fukushima's waters into the sea was taken after more than two years of provoking controversy. Before being released into the sea, the water will be treated in such a way as to remove most of the radioactive material. But the waste still contains tritium, a naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen that is technically difficult to separate from water.
Quoted from The Guardian, Japanese authorities insist that the "treated" water will not pose a threat to human health or the marine environment.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster was recorded as the second largest nuclear incident after the Chernobyl tragedy in 1986. This disaster was preceded by the tsunami that occurred after the Tōhoku earthquake on March 11, 2011. Immediately after the earthquake, the active reactor automatically turned off the continuous fission reaction.
However, the tsunami shut down the emergency generator which provides power to control and operate the pumps needed to cool the reactor. Inadequate cooling caused a nuclear meltdown, a hydrogen chemical explosion, and the release of radioactive material in units 1, 2 and 3 of the nuclear reactor.
Wastewater at Fukushima is stored in more than 1,000 tanks that officials say will need to be moved so the plant can be decommissioned. This process is expected to take 30 to 40 years.
Japan's foreign ministry said in July 2022 that regulators considered it safe to release Fukushima's water into the sea. The water will be discharged gradually into the Pacific Ocean through tunnels after being treated and diluted.
The operator of this disposal plan, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), claims its water treatment technology, known as Alps, can remove all radioactive materials from water except tritium. However tritium is said to be harmless in small amounts.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also demonstrated that nuclear plants around the world use similar processes to dispose of wastewater containing low concentrations of tritium and other radionuclides.
South Korea and China have raised concerns about the planned release of the Fukushima waters into the sea. Not only that, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) also said they had serious concerns regarding the release of Fukushima waste water.
"Japan should postpone its plans until it is absolutely sure about the implications of its actions on the environment and human health. Especially considering that the majority of Pacific peoples are coastal people, and that the sea is an integral part of their lives," said PIF general secretary Henry Puna.