A wise or dangerous decision?
Jorge Morales Pedraza
Former Ambassador and Independent Researcher on International Affairs
Despite opposition from Russia, China, and the Republic of Korea, Japan will build a 1 kilometer long and 2.5-meter wide submarine tunnel to dump 1.27 million tons of treated radioactive water accumulated at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. Construction of the tunnel is expected to begin in 2022, after carrying out the corresponding feasibility studies and having the construction approved by the country's competent authorities, and will be carried out by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO). Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a serious accident in March 2011.
Why does Japan want now to dump these contaminated waters into the sea? Since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami damaged the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, affected its cooling system, and leaked contaminated water outside the reactor dome, this water has been collected and stored in special tanks located at the nuclear power plant site. According to TEPCO, its storage capacity will reach its limit in autumn 2022.?
The purpose is to complete the cleaning of the nuclear power plant site. For this reason, in April 2021, Japan made known its plans to dump the radioactive water collected and stored at the plant site into the sea, a process that is estimated to take decades to complete. According to TEPCO officials and statements made by the Japanese authorities, it is impossible to eliminate the tritium contained in the contaminated water. However, the other radioisotopes present in the contaminated water will be reduced to acceptable levels.
It is true that in small amounts, tritium is not harmful. However, some scientists insist that the long-term impact on marine life from exposure to these radioactive elements in low doses is unknown when the volumes of contaminated water are so large.