UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
UN watchdog approves plan for release of Fukushima waste water to the sea
12/7/2023
News
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Japan’s plan to release waste water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea over the next three decades ‘complies with international standards’ and will have ‘negligible’ impact on the environment.
Over a million tonnes of treated waste water has accumulated at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) operated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant since it was severely damaged and closed down after a tsunami hit the facility in 2011. Japan wants to start discharging the waste water, which was used to cool the nuclear reactors, into the Pacific Ocean as the site is now running out of storage space. The plan has caused an outcry from environmental organisations and local communities, including the fishing and seafood industries, and has been opposed by neighbouring China, South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan.
However, a safety review conducted by the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has concluded that Japan’s plans to release treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station into the sea are ‘consistent with IAEA safety standards’ and would have a ‘negligible radiological impact to people and the environment’.
The report is the outcome of nearly two years of work by an IAEA Task Force made up of top specialists from within the Agency advised by internationally recognised nuclear safety experts from 11 countries.
The water stored at the nuclear facility has been treated through an advanced liquid processing system (ALPS) to remove almost all radioactivity, aside from tritium. Before discharging, Japan will dilute the water to bring the tritium to below regulatory standards, says the IAEA.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) approved the plan in May.
The IAEA’s review addressed all key safety elements of the water discharge plan in three major components: assessment of protection and safety; regulatory activities and processes; and independent sampling, data corroboration and analysis.
Stressing to reporters that the safety review report was ‘scientific and impartial’ and that the IAEA neither recommended nor endorsed the plan to release the treated water into the sea, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stated that the safety review will continue during the discharge phase and the IAEA will also have a continuous on-site presence and provide live online monitoring on its website from the discharge facility. ‘This will ensure the relevant international safety standards continue to be applied throughout the decades-long process laid out by the government of Japan and TEPCO,’ he said.
