BRIEFING AND EXPERT REACTION: Treated Fukushima wastewater soon to be released in the Pacific

The proposed release of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is controversial. I believe that the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Japanese Government have developed a robust plan using their current radiation protection legalisation and practices to at least start disposing of water in the short term.

This approach has been verified by the IAEA in their subsequent reports. These include reports assessing the Japanese regulatory system, safety review missions, and corroboration of the independent sampling, data and analysis as well as inter-laboratory comparisons.

However, whilst this disposal plan meets the scientific and regulatory requirements for the disposal of radiation into the sea, and no environmental or human health impacts are likely to be observed, there is a growing question regarding the use of the sea as a dumping ground when our oceans are already stressed and struggling.

Dilution is no longer the solution to pollution, so whilst the Japanese may dispose of their wastewater in the interim, it would be a good opportunity to look at other disposal methodologies in the future. The Pacific Island Forum Scientific Panel has proposed to use the wastewater to make concrete, therefore locking up the residual radioactive tritium.

Japan is about to start releasing treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. At first, this sounds like a terrible idea, but in fact, it is sensible and safe. Similar releases have occurred around the world for decades, and nothing bad has ever happened.
 
The radioactivity in the Fukushima water is almost entirely tritium, a form of hydrogen. For scale, the Pacific Ocean contains 8,400 grams of pure tritium, while Japan will release 0.06 grams of tritium every year. The minuscule amount of extra radiation won’t make the tiniest jot of difference. A lifetime's worth of seafood caught a few kilometres from the ocean outlet has the tritium radiation equivalent of one bite of a banana.
 
In South Korea and Pacific Rim nations, a disinformation campaign has whipped the public into a frenzy about the release. In truth, almost everything is radioactive, including the Pacific Ocean, where tritium accounts for a modest 0.04% of total radioactivity. Increasing this tiny amount by a tiny amount is hardly end-of-the-world stuff. It is time for informed scientists to stand up and be counted, and face down the doomsayers.

Concerns remain regarding the impending release of treated, radioactively-contaminated cooling water from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster.
 
Japan’s plan to begin releasing the treated, contaminated cooling water into the Pacific Ocean is premature, and presently, ill-advised. The ocean is a precious and shared resource for all humankind, now and for generations to come. The supporting Radiological Environmental Impact Assessment prepared by TEPCO is deficient and inadequate, as are the monitoring plans and approaches which do not address ecosystem protection, only detection.

The fate of particular radionuclides in marine sediments is notably absent, as are well-designed studies of uptake, trophic transfer and bioaccumulation in marine organisms, particularly edible species of commercial and cultural value. Importantly, the potential negative effects and impacts of this activity are not independent from the multitude of stressors already affecting ocean health and that of the people who depend on it, including pollution from pesticides, heavy metals, industrial wastes, hydrocarbons, plastics, climate change, and ecosystem disruptions tied to over-exploitation of resources.

The peoples of the Pacific did not contribute to the present problems and have nothing to gain from Japan’s plan for the contaminated water release over the next 30+ years, but have much at risk for generations to come, in violation of the precautionary principle as well as transboundary safety considerations.

Better and safer alternatives exist, including using the accumulating cooling water for mixing concrete for needed structures: https://cafethorium.whoi.edu/concrete-option

The Fukushima water discharge is not an event without precedent. Nuclear power plants worldwide have routinely discharged water containing tritium for over 60 years without harm to people or the environment, most at higher levels than the 22 TBq per year that is planned at Fukushima.

For comparison, in South Korea the Kori plant discharged 91 TBq in 2019, more than four times the planned Fukushima discharge. Provided the levels of all dangerous radioisotopes are below regulatory levels, the planned discharge at Fukushima is very conservative. So the key question is do TEPCO accurately measure what is in the tanks to be discharged?

The IAEA have carried out a series of missions. Their latest report, issued May 2023, reviews the determination of radionuclides in ALPS-treated water. Samples were taken from the first batch of ALPS-treated water expected to be discharged into the sea and independently analysed by TEPCO, by the IAEA at its labs in Monaco, Seibersdorf and Vienna, and in third-party labs in France, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA. The results show a very high level of agreement between all the labs. Importantly, neither the IAEA, nor the participating third-party laboratories, detected any additional radionuclides (i.e. radionuclides beyond what is included in the source term) at significant levels.

The planned discharge is ultra-conservative.