May 21, 2021
In this Oct. 12, 2017, photo, the ever-growing amount of contaminated, treated but still slightly radioactive, water is stored in about 900 huge tanks, including those seen in this photo taken during a plant tour at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
Credit: Pablo M. Diez/Pool Photo via AP
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Since the devastating March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 1.25 million tons of seawater have been pumped through the damaged nuclear units to prevent the melted fuel rods in three damaged reactors from overheating. The contaminated water has been stored in more than 1,000 steel tanks on site. But in April 2021, the Japanese government announced that it would, beginning in 2023 and for decades thereafter, discharge all of the treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean as part of the plant’s decommissioning process.
Watch | Japan to release contaminated Fukushima water into the sea
Updated:
Updated:
May 01, 2021 18:08 IST
A video on the decision of Japanese govt. to release 1.3 million tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea
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A video on the decision of Japanese govt. to release 1.3 million tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea
On April 13, the Japanese govt. announced the release of more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water into the sea from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear station.
This move has been opposed by its own fishing industry and neighbouring countries like South Korea, China, and Taiwan
Japan Faces Growing Pressure to Rethink Releasing Fukushima’s Wastewater into Ocean
China and South Korea have reacted strongly to the Japanese government’s decision to release contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor.
April 16, 2021
Injecting water into Unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Japan, Aug. 1, 2011.
Credit: Ministry of Defense of Japan
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The Japanese government’s decision to discharge contaminated water from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean has attracted fierce opposition from neighboring China and South Korea over risks the treated radioactive water could pose to public health.
The Japanese government has given Fukushima Daiichi’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the go ahead to install the equipment needed to release the contaminated water, which is expected to take two years.
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March 11, 2021
Streets that lead into some residential areas are closed with barricades and are indicated with signs for the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.
Credit: AP Photo/Hiro Komae
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A long steel fence stretches along the perimeter of Tomioka city. It is the only physical barrier between the radioactive areas and where residents have been partially allowed to return. Here begins the exclusion zone: 370 square kilometers of land still undergoing decontamination. The damaged reactors of the Fukushima plant are less than 10 kilometers away.