Zach Crawford
(ANSA) – TOKYO, April 13 – The Japanese government has decided to release contaminated water used to cool reactors damaged in the Fukushima nuclear accident in the Pacific Ocean.
This was announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, confirming expectations today Eve and despite apparent opposition from public opinion, the fishing industry and representatives of local agriculture. Suga met with executive members, including Industry Minister Hiroshi Kagiyama, to formalize the decision, which comes exactly 10 years after the March 2011 disaster. The daily maintenance of the Fukushima Daiichi plant produces the equivalent of 140 tons of contaminated water, which – although treated in Reclamation plants, still contain tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Just over 1,000 tanks have been assembled in the vicinity of the plant, equivalent to 1.25 million tons of liquids, and according to the station operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the tanks will reach their maximum capacity. Summer of 2022. Neighboring countries have also expressed protests against water spills at sea in the past, including China and South Korea. And in February of last year, during a visit to the plant, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Aiea had recognized that the release of water into the Pacific Ocean would be in line with international standards for the nuclear industry. The triple disaster in Fukushima was caused by the magnitude 9 earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, which caused the overheating of the nuclear fuel, followed by the melting of the core inside the reactors, which was accompanied by hydrogen explosions and radiation emissions. (handle).
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Laurence Malcom
