10 Years After the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster... Radioactive Contaminated Water Equivalent to 500 Swimming Pools Remains

[Image source= AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] On the 11th of this month, it will be exactly 10 years since the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident occurred in Japan.

The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 6th (local time) that there are currently 1.25 million tons of radioactive contaminated water stored in tanks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, indicating that the shock from the Fukushima nuclear accident still continues in Japan. It also reported that the Japanese government is planning to discharge the contaminated water, which has become unmanageable, into the ocean, and that this has raised concerns and criticism from the international community.

According to WP, 1.25 million tons is enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The number of storage tanks built to hold this water has now exceeded 1,000. Since the 2011 nuclear accident, contaminated water has continued to increase as cooling water was polluted and rainwater and groundwater seeped through the broken buildings. It is known that about 140 cubic meters of contaminated water are still being generated daily.

The Japanese government believes that it is now time to treat the contaminated water, as there is no more land to build additional storage tanks and to achieve the goal of decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear power plant between 2041 and 2051.

However, Greenpeace recently pointed out in a report that the Japanese government's plan to decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plant by 2051 at the latest is a delusion. Considering current radioactive material treatment technologies, decommissioning Fukushima by 2051 is an unattainable goal.

Moreover, there is much controversy over whether the contaminated water is safe enough to be discharged into the ocean.

Ken Busseler, a senior radioactivity chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States, pointed out that Japan has deceived the international community for eight years. He highlighted that the Japanese government claimed to have removed all dangerous radioactive materials except tritium from the contaminated water through the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), but in 2018, through in-depth data, admitted that dangerous radioactive materials such as strontium were detected in 70% of the contaminated water.

As a result, there are growing calls for the Japanese government to provide accurate data and for the discharge to take place only after safety has been verified. Sean Burnie, a senior nuclear expert at Greenpeace Germany, argued that the discharge should be postponed until at least 2035.

Cesium levels five times the standard were recently detected in fish caught at Onahama Port, located 40 miles south of the accident nuclear power plant. This was the first time in 16 months that seafood containing radioactive materials exceeding the standard was confirmed.

Among Fukushima fishermen, there is strong opposition to the government's plan to discharge contaminated water into the ocean.

Yanai Takayuki, representative of the trawl fishing association at Onahama Port, said, "Discharging contaminated water is an act that reverses the recovery efforts made so far," and added, "The discharge must be stopped, and the government should find other alternatives."

However, the Japanese government insists that discharging the contaminated water into the ocean is the top priority solution and the safest method, while watching the international community's reactions.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), five reactors are currently operating in Japan. The Japanese government has authorized the operation of nine reactors, but the remaining four are not operating due to legal issues and other reasons. At the time of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, the Japanese government had authorized the operation of 54 reactors.

In Germany, all nuclear power plants are scheduled to be decommissioned by next year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a plan to decommission all 17 nuclear power plants in Germany by 2022 immediately after the Fukushima nuclear accident, and accordingly, Germany has been steadily reducing the number of operating reactors.

As of July last year, there are 408 reactors operating worldwide. This number has not significantly decreased from 437 reactors immediately after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.

This is because many reactors are being newly built for economic reasons, even as closures are made for safety reasons. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), 50 reactors are currently under construction worldwide, with 16 of them being built in China.

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