The Japanese government said that there are more pros than cons in discharging the contaminated water into the ocean. (Image via Japan Today)

Japan explains the pro and con of disposing contaminated water to the sea

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Environmental Energy & Material
Feb 04, 2020
3025
During a briefing session at the Foreign Ministry building, Tokyo, on Monday, the Japanese government struggles to convince nearly embassies of nearly two dozen countries the benefit of releasing radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the ocean.

More than 1 million tons of contaminated water at the crippled nuclear plant will be disposed into the ocean since the storage space is running out. The capacity is expected to run out by Summer 2022.

The Japanese government offered two options: releasing it to the ocean or evaporating it. While both of the methods are feasible methods, releasing the contaminated water to the water ensures more “certainty” as it will be easier for the Japanese government to monitor the radiation levels.

Regarding the health risk, the government ensures that it would be significantly small. Discharging the water over a year will amount to between one-1,600th to one-40,000th of the radiation that humans are naturally exposed to.

The con of discharging the water into the ocean is the reputational damage to the fishing and farming industries in the area. Therefore, it needs further countermeasures. The con came after a draft submitted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.

About 170 tons of contaminated water is purified using an advanced liquid processing system (ALPS). However, the ALPS does not remove tritium and leaves a small trace of radioactive materials.

Local fishermen and the neighboring countries sound their opposition against the idea of discharging the contaminated water into the ocean. South Korea (S. Korea), banning the seafood product from the affected area, also stated its concern. S. Korea, being the most vocal about the nuclear radiation, said to bring its home-grown food ingredients and radiation detectors.

The embassies attending the briefing did not state any disagreement.

Source: https://bit.ly/398R8Ai

Politics , Sports , Event , Festival , Asia , Japan , Environment , Nuclear , Fukushima , Contamination , Radiation , 2020-Summer-Olympics