Monitoring Local Fish Production in Japan following the Opening of Nuclear Wastewater Discharge

Japan: Local fish production will be monitored after the discharge of nuclear wastewater is opened

online report

13.08.2023

The preparations for the discharge of cooling water from the abandoned Fukushima nuclear power plant are nearing completion. Although the International Atomic Energy Agency has approved the relevant plan, there are still many controversies and doubts about the possible harm of wastewater discharge. In view of this, the Japanese government plans to use seafood monitoring to dispel the concerns of all parties.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) After the cooling water discharge plan of the Fukushima abandoned nuclear power plant sparked widespread controversy, Japan stated that it will carry out radioactive tritium testing on aquatic products in the relevant sea areas in the future. The special issue of the Japanese economic magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Friday that the fisheries management agency will release the test results within two days. It is expected that the waste water will be filtered before the gate is opened for waterproofing at the end of this month, but the radioactive isotope tritium cannot be filtered out by technical means. Therefore, this batch of wastewater must be greatly diluted before the gate is opened for waterproofing. The International Atomic Energy Agency believes that Japan’s plan to discharge waste cooling water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea will not cause harm to humans and the environment.

The 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami triggered a core meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. After the accident, the reactor must be cooled with water, and then the cooling water is stored in the water tank. At present, the stored cooling water has reached 1.3 million tons.

Huge tanks for storing nuclear wastewater can be seen everywhere in the abandoned plant area of ​​the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Fukushima nuclear power plant operating company Nippon Electric Power Tepco has gradually run out of facilities for storing cooling water, and the existence of a large number of cooling water storage facilities in the plant area has also affected the progress of dismantling the abandoned nuclear power plant. In addition, the hidden danger of water storage tank leakage incidents is also increasing day by day. In view of this, the Japanese government decided to discharge the wastewater from the nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, and built a one-kilometer-long tunnel for this purpose. It is estimated that the entire discharge process will last for about 30 years after the gates are waterproofed. Local fishermen in neighboring China and Japan opposed the drainage plan.Local fishermen are concerned that the drainage plan will negatively affect their business.

Japanese media reported that in 2015, the Japanese government promised to the Fukushima Fisheries Association that it would never discharge waste water into the sea without the consent of all parties involved. Therefore, the Japanese government is currently trying to gain the understanding of all parties, and has launched a seafood radioactivity testing program for this purpose. “Nikkei Asia” reported that local fishermen have been voluntarily avoiding fishing operations within a ten-kilometer radius of the abandoned nuclear power plant.

Japanese power company Tepco said it will dilute waste cooling water before it is discharged into the sea until its tritium content drops to 1,500 becquerels per liter, which is one-fortieth higher than Japan’s national safety standard. Low. Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog and the International Atomic Energy Agency have given the green light to the Fukushima drainage plan not long ago,He also stated that Japan’s nuclear wastewater discharge plan complies with international standards. Professionals pointed out that the discharge of wastewater from nuclear power plants into the sea is a common practice in various countries.

(German News Agency, Reuters)

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2023-08-13 07:10:27