Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 12 March 2020
Safety of Fukushima waste water focus of sea release debate

By MARI YAMAGUCHI After years of discussions
Associated Press about what to do with the
OKUMA, Japan (AP) — In- contaminated water with-
side a giant decontami- out destroying the local
nation facility at the de- economy and its reputa-
stroyed Fukushima nuclear tion, a government panel
power plant, workers in issued a report earlier this
hazmat suits monitor radio- year that narrowed the wa-
active water pumped from ter disposal options to two:
three damaged reactors, diluting the treated water
making sure it's adequately to levels below the allow-
— though not completely able safety limits and then
— treated. releasing it into the sea in a
Three lines of equipment controlled way, or allowing
connected to pipes snak- the water to evaporate in
ing around in this dimly lit, a years-long process.
sprawling facility can pro- The report also urged the
cess up to 750 tons of con- government to do more
taminated water a day. to fight the "reputational
Four other lines elsewhere damage" to Fukushima
in the plant can process fishing and farm produce,
more. for instance by promoting
From there, the water is food fairs, developing new
pumped to a complex of In this Feb. 12, 2020, photo, a worker in a hazmat suit carries a hose while working at a water sales routes and making
about 1,000 temporary stor- treatment facility at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, use of third-party quality
age tanks that crowd the Japan. accreditation systems.
plant's grounds, where ad- Associated Press TEPCO and government of-
ditional tanks are still being ficials promise the plant will
built. Officials say the huge posed to the plan because of melted fuel. The dilem- ground first goes through treat the water for a second
tanks will be completely full they think the water release ma over the ever-growing cesium and strontium re- time to meet legal require-
by the summer of 2022. would hurt the reputation radioactive water is part of moval equipment, after ments before any release.
The decontamination pro- of already battered fish- the complex aftermath of which most is recycled as At the end of the tour of the
cess, which The Associated eries, where annual sales the magnitude 9.0 earth- cooling water for the dam- treatment facility, a plant
Press viewed on a recent remain about half of the quake and tsunami that aged reactors. The rest is official showed a glass bot-
tour, is a key element of a level before the nuclear hit on March 11, 2011, de- filtered by the main treat- tle containing clear water
contentious debate over accident, even though the stroying key cooling func- ment system, known as taken from the process-
what should be done with catch has cleared strict ra- tions at the Fukushima Dai- ALPS, which is designed to ing equipment. Workers
the nearly 1.2 million tons dioactivity tests. ichi plant. Three reactors remove all 62 radioactive are required to routinely
of still-radioactive water TEPCO Chief Decommis- melted, releasing massive contaminants except for collect water samples for
being closely watched by sioning Officer Akira Ono amounts of radiation and tritium, TEPCO says. analysis at laboratories at
governments and organi- says the water must be forcing 160,000 residents to Tritium cannot be removed the plant. Radiology tech-
zations around the world disposed as the plant's evacuate. About 40,000 still from water and is virtually nicians were analyzing the
ahead of this summer's To- decommissioning moves haven't returned. harmless when consumed water at one lab, where
kyo Olympics. forward because the area Except for the highly radio- in small amounts, accord- AP journalists were not al-
The plant's operator, To- used by the tanks is need- active buildings that house ing to Japan's industry min- lowed to enter. Officials
kyo Electric Power Co., ed to build facilities for the the melted reactors, most istry and nuclear regulatory say the treated water will
or TEPCO, says it needs to retrieval of melted reactor above-ground areas of the officials. be diluted with fresh water
free up space as work to debris. plant can now be visited But despite repeated offi- before it is released into the
decommission the dam- Workers are planning to while wearing just a surgi- cial reassurances, there are environment.
aged reactors approaches remove a first batch of cal mask, cotton gloves, widespread worries about Doubts about the plant's
a critical phase. It's widely melted debris by Decem- a helmet and a personal eating fish that might be af- water treatment escalated
expected that TEPCO will ber 2021. Remote control dosimeter. The area right fected if the contaminated two years ago when TEPCO
gradually release the water cranes are dismantling a outside the plant is largely water is released into the acknowledged that most
into the nearby ocean fol- highly contaminated ex- untouched and radiation sea. Katsumi Shozugawa, of the water stored in the
lowing a government de- haust tower near Unit 2, the levels are often higher. a radiology expert at the tanks still contains cancer-
cision allowing it to do so. first reactor to get its melt- The underground areas University of Tokyo who has causing cesium, strontium
The company is still vague ed fuel removed. At Unit 3, remain a hazardous mess. been analyzing groundwa- and other radioactive ma-
on the timing. spent fuel units are being Radioactive cooling water ter around the plant, said terials at levels exceeding
But local residents, espe- removed from a cooling is leaking from the melted the long-term consequenc- safety limits.
cially fishermen, are op- pool ahead of the removal reactors and mixes with es of low-dose exposure in Masumi Kowata, who lives
groundwater, which must the food chain hasn't been in Okuma, a town where
be pumped up to keep it fully investigated. part of the plant is located,
from flowing into the sea "At this point, it is difficult said some of her neighbors
and elsewhere. Separately, to predict a risk," he said. are offering their land so
even more dangerously "Once the water is released that more storage tanks
contaminated water sits into the environment, it will can be built.
in underground areas and be very difficult to follow up "We should not dump the
leaks continuously into and monitor its movement. water until we have proof
groundwater outside the So the accuracy of the about its safety," she said.
plant, experts say. data before any release is "The government says
The contaminated wa- crucial and must be veri- it's safe, but how do we
ter pumped from under- fied." know?"q