TOKYO (AP) – Dozens of anti-nuclear activists protested yesterday to demand Japan scrap its plan to release treated but still radioactive water from a tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant into the sea, which may begin this summer.
“Don’t dump contaminated water into sea!” protesters chanted outside the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holding’s (TEPCO) headquarters in Tokyo, holding banners with their demands such as “Don’t nuke the Pacific” and “Stop contaminated water”.
The utility that operates the plant wrecked in the 2011 disaster has almost finished building the needed facilities to release the massive amounts of water. “Even after treatment, some radiation stays in the water,” said activist Harumichi Saito from Iwaki, a city south of the wrecked plant. “It’s a decades-long, multi-generational project that must get public consensus.”
The tsunami and earthquake on March 11, 2011, damaged the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, damaging three nuclear reactors, causing their cooling water to become highly radioactive and leak into the buildings’ basements. The water is collected, treated and stored in tanks that cover much of the plant.
The government and TEPCO say the tanks must be removed to make room for the plant’s decommissioning and to minimise the risk of leaks in case of another disaster.
The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities concerned about safety and reputational damage. Neighbouring countries, including South Korea, China and the Pacific Island nations, have protested.
Japanese officials said the water will be filtered to far below international releasable levels and further diluted by large amounts of seawater before release, making it harmless.
However, some scientists said the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides is still unknown and the release should be delayed.
