Japan will be releasing over 1 million tons of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the plan’s safety on Tuesday.
Japan intends to discharge into the ocean the water that was used to cool fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, which was destroyed by an earthquake in March 2011.
This wastewater was collected and has since been stored in roughly 1,000 tanks. Now it must be released to prevent leaks and make room for the station’s decommissioning, per AP News.
Japan published its policy for slowly releasing the water back into the Pacific Ocean over the next 30-40 years in 2021. It also requested an independent safety review from the IAEA, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations that has been operating since 1957.
An IAEA task force subsequently conducted a two-year evaluation of Japan’s plan and determined the plan is “consistent with relevant international safety standards” and will have a “negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA’s general director, traveled to Tokyo on July 4 to present the findings to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Various radionuclides, such as cesium, are present in the water but will be filtered until their concentration is below international standards, according to AP News. Tritium is the only radionuclide that will not be filtered, as it is inseparable from water.
The water will then be filtered with seawater 100 times before being released.
Despite the IAEA having confirmed the plan’s safety, not everyone supports it. The scientific community, as well as some of Japan’s neighbors and those in the fishing community, have opposed the release for multiple reasons.
Robert Richmond, a biologist from the University of Hawaii, was commissioned by the intergovernmental organization Pacific Islands Forum to study Japan’s plan.
Richmond said he found evidence lacking that the plan is safe and wouldn’t emit harmful elements into the ocean.
“There are major gaps in the critical information that’s necessary for us to make the final determination,” he said, according to NPR.
“We are unanimous in our view that this has not been proven to be safe,” continued Richmond, referring to himself and the other four experts tasked with reviewing the plan.
Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, addressed the plan in March and called it “extremely irresponsible.”
“I would like to stress that Japan’s release of treated nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima plant concerns the global marine environment and public health, which is not a private matter for the Japanese,” said Mao, per AP News.
“Until full consultation and agreement is reached with neighboring countries and other stakeholders and relevant international institutions, the Japanese side shall not initiate the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea without authorization,” continued Mao.
Some in the fishing community in Japan are nervous about the plan as well, according to AP News. They are not as concerned with the effects on fish as they are about the reputation their products will have once the wastewater is released.
Haruhiko Terasawa, head of the Miyagi prefectural fisheries cooperatives, said they detest the plan and will continue to do so until more evidence is presented.
“The treated water is not a problem that ends after a single time or a year of release, but lasts as long as 30-40 years, so nobody can predict what might happen,” he told TV Asahi, per AP News.
Prime Minister Kishida has said that Japan plans to continue providing “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally,” according to AP News.
As Japan begins the discharge process, Grossi said that the IAEA “will continue its impartial, independent and objective safety review during the discharge phase, including by having a continuous on-site presence and by providing live online monitoring on our website.”
