Japan is going to start putting treated radioactive water from Fukushima into the ocean soon, on Thursday. This was announced by officials on Tuesday. People have been worried and many nearby countries have also disagreed with this decision.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that if there are no problems, the release will happen on August 24. The government decided this after having a meeting to talk about the issue.
The powerful earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 made the water in the Fukushima nuclear plant dirty with very dangerous radioactive material. Since then, we have been pumping new water to cool down the fuel debris in the reactors. However, water from the ground and rain has been leaking in, which is making the wastewater more radioactive.
All the dirty water has been cleaned and kept in huge containers. However, there is not enough space, so they need to remove the water to safely shut down the plant. This is why they have a plan to release the water into the ocean, which has caused a lot of disagreement and debate.
In July, a group called the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved Japan’s plan because it meets global safety rules and would have very little harmful effect on people and the environment. They confirmed this again on Tuesday after the government’s announcement, stating that they had carefully studied the plan for two years.
But this has not made many of Japan’s neighboring countries feel better, as officials from China and the Pacific Islands are expressing worry and disagreement with the plan.
In South Korea, some people have protested on the streets against the release, but the country’s leaders have shown their support for Japan. On Tuesday, the main opposition party in South Korea criticized the government for its stance. They believed that releasing this would cause a lot of damage to all the countries near Japan.
Right now, fishing communities in Japan and South Korea are concerned that the release of wastewater could destroy their way of making a living. People in the region are already starting to avoid seafood from Japan and the waters nearby, and some governments are even prohibiting imported food from certain regions in Japan, like Fukushima.
On Monday, Kishida met with the head of a group that represents fishermen from all over the country. The chairman told the prime minister that the group is still against the plan. On Tuesday, a group of people gathered outside Kishida’s office to protest against the release. They held signs and banners to show their disagreement.
According to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), most of the dangerous elements in radioactive wastewater can be removed through different treatment processes.
The main problem is a hydrogen type called radioactive tritium that cannot be removed. Right now, there is no technology that can do that.
Officials say that the Fukushima wastewater will be mixed with a lot of clean water and let out little by little over many years. This means that the amount of tritium released will be very small and will follow the rules set by the international community.
Many other countries, like the United States, often let out water that has been cleaned but still contains a little bit of a radioactive substance called tritium from their nuclear power plants.
TEPCO, Japan’s government, and the IAEA say that tritium is found naturally in the environment, like rain and tap water, so releasing the wastewater should be okay.
But some experts think that there is a risk while others do not. Most experts believe that a little bit of tritium is not very harmful, but it could be dangerous if a lot of it is consumed.
Some scientists are concerned that making the wastewater less concentrated could hurt marine life. This could happen because harmful chemicals could build up in the weak ecosystem. A knowledgeable person, who assisted Pacific Island nations in evaluating the plan to release wastewater, told CNN that it was not a good idea and too early to do so.
Some people believe that there aren’t enough studies or data available yet to understand the long-term impact of being exposed to tritium.
The water with less salt will be let out from a tunnel underwater near the coast into the Pacific Ocean. Other organizations like the IAEA will watch over the release of the discharge both during and after it happens.