Japanese Minister Gyo-san: "We Cannot Postpone the Decision on Fukushima Contaminated Water Disposal Indefinitely"

Japanese Media Report "Effectively Decided by Ocean Discharge"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Hiroshi Kajiyama, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), expressed on the 16th his intention to soon announce the disposal method for radioactive contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Contaminated Water
Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

At a press conference held after the Cabinet meeting that day, Minister Kajiyama only mentioned, "We will first organize the opinions received so far." The previous day, Japanese media reported that the Japanese government had decided on a policy to discharge the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. Earlier, newspapers such as Mainichi Shimbun reported that the Japanese government had set a disposal policy for the Fukushima nuclear plant's contaminated water and planned to hold a related Cabinet meeting to make an official decision.

Minister Kajiyama did not disclose specific plans regarding the discharge of contaminated water but acknowledged that a decision was imminent. He stated, "Considering that the volume (of contaminated water) is increasing daily, we cannot postpone the decision on the policy indefinitely."

So far, the expert subcommittee under Japan's METI has presented two options for disposing of the contaminated water: ocean discharge and atmospheric release, and expressed the opinion that ocean discharge is technically more feasible.

In this regard, the Japanese government held sessions to hear opinions from fisheries organizations and others, but it was criticized for being more of a formal procedure than a substantive consultation.

At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, contaminated water is generated at a rate of 160 to 170 tons per day as rainwater and groundwater mix with the circulating cooling water used to cool the molten nuclear fuel inside the reactors that exploded during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

According to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), as of September this year, the contaminated water stored in tanks amounts to 1.23 million tons, and the capacity of the tanks storing the contaminated water is expected to reach its limit by the summer of 2022.

Mainichi Shimbun predicted that considering the related procedures, it would take about two years until the actual discharge.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.