Just weeks after the approval of the nuclear police, Tokyo is closer than ever to a release of the radioactive water used to cool the Fukushima power plant. According to an article from the Japanese daily Asahi shinbun, dated Monday, August 7, Japan should carry out the first operations even before the end of August. A choice far from being due to chance, both nationally and internationally.
Indeed, on August 18, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is due to meet US President Joe Biden and South Korean Head of State Yoon Suk Yeol in the United States. According to government sources, quoted anonymously by Asahi shinbun, Kishida’s goal is to present its plan for disposing of contaminated waters before fully initiating the process. Even though critics were, for a time, raised against this decision.
Tokyo also wants to embark on these operations before the high fishing season, which begins in September. The Prime Minister’s Office estimates that the preparations needed to make the actual discharges of the treated water that accumulated near the plant that caused a nuclear accident in 2011 after a tsunami took just over a week. . Wishing to spare its South Korean neighbor, Japan should not announce any launch date for its operations before the meeting on August 18.
About 1.3 million tons of water have been filtered since the nuclear accident in March 2011. This is the equivalent of 500 Olympic swimming pools. It had been used to cool the fuel rods that had melted due to the high temperatures observed after the accident. In all, Tokyo estimates between 30 and 40 years the time required to carry out all the releases. These should be done approximately one kilometer from the Japanese coastline. And this, thanks to an underwater tunnel built for the occasion.
Last July, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had already given its blessing to the Japanese project. In an official report, the UN agency estimated that “discharges of treated water would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment”. China, on the other hand, continues to openly criticize this project which it considers “irresponsible”.