US backing of ocean release of Fukushima water sparks controversy

Observers say that nuclear safety standards are too ambiguous

The US State Department expressed its support for the Japanese government’s decision to discharge radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean in a Tuesday statement attributed to spokesperson Ned Price. (AFP/Yonhap News)

The Biden administration has expressed its support for the Japanese government’s decision to discharge radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, describing the decision as being “in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards.”

The US State Department expressed its support in a statement attributed to spokesperson Ned Price on Tuesday.

“The Government of Japan (GOJ), in close coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency, has taken measures to manage the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011, including radiation monitoring, remediation, waste management, and decommissioning. The GOJ announced its decision on the Basic Policy on Handling of the Advanced Liquid Processing System Treated Water to dispose of the treated water by discharging it into the sea,” Price said in the statement.

The US State Department referred to the contaminated water using the phrase “treated water,” the same language used by Japan.

“The United States is aware that the GOJ examined several options related to the management of the treated water currently being stored onsite at the Fukushima Daiichi site. In this unique and challenging situation, Japan has weighed the options and effects, has been transparent about its decision, and appears to have adopted an approach in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards,” Price said.

“We look forward to the GOJ’s continued coordination and communication as it monitors the effectiveness of this approach.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken added his thoughts on Twitter. “We thank Japan for its transparent efforts in its decision to dispose of the treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi site. We look forward to the Government of Japan’s continued coordination with the [International Atomic Energy Agency].”

While the US isn’t wrong when it says that Japan is “in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards,” observers said that those standards are too ambiguous. In effect, Japan has aggressively exploited that ambiguity.

Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that might pose a risk to the human body if ingested, can’t be removed by processing equipment. But there’s a lack of shared international standards for tritium levels, which has led each country to set its own standards.

Japan’s safe limit for tritium-caused radioactivity is 60,000Bq/L, which is looser than the 37,000Bq/L limit in the US and the 40,000Bq/L limit in South Korea. A Becquerel (Bq) is a unit of radioactivity defined as one nuclear decay per second.

Japan has promised to mix the contaminated water with seawater until the radioactivity is just 2.5 percent (1,500Bq/L) of the safe limit before discharging it into the ocean. Such dilution wouldn’t change the total amount of tritium entering the ocean, but there aren’t any international standards about the total amount that can be released.

There’s currently thought to be around 860 trillion Bq/L of tritium-caused radioactivity in the 1.25 million tons of contaminated water in the storage tanks. Since more water will be contaminated during the 30-40 years needed to decommission the nuclear reactors at Fukushima, that amount of radioactivity will increase.

Studies indicate that tritium can cause radiation poisoning when it’s converted to organically bound tritium after entering the human body through seafood or other vectors. Given its uncertain impact on the environment and the human body, the substance must be carefully managed.

Another issue is that the contaminated water at Fukushima contains potentially fatal radioactive materials banned by the international community.

Once again, the safe limits for radioactive materials vary with each country. Japan’s limit for Strontium-90, a deadly carcinogenic substance, is 30Bq/L. The contaminated water at Fukushima contains Strontium-90 at an average level of 3,355Bq/L, which is more than 110 times the limit. Setting aside the average, the highest recorded reading was 20,000 times that limit.

The average concentration of Iodine-129 was 9.36Bq/L, above the safe limit of 9Bq/L. Average levels of Cesium-137 (5.02Bq/L) are below the safe limit (90Bq/L), but the maximum reading (829Bq/L) was nine times that limit.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company said that it plans to reprocess the water to bring radioactivity below the safe limits, but it hasn’t disclosed the details of that plan.

The Japanese government plans to monitor radioactivity levels before and after discharging the water into the ocean and involve members of the agriculture and fishery industries and local government officials. It has also promised to disclose objective information both domestically and internationally in concert with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi welcomed Japan’s announcement,” the IAEA said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that it “stands ready to provide technical support in monitoring and reviewing the plan’s safe and transparent implementation.”

But environmental organizations read this as reflecting the IAEA’s hope of reviving the nuclear power industry.

The Japanese government reached its decision to release the contaminated water during a meeting of related cabinet members Tuesday.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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