Tepco to Release Treated Radioactive Groundwater into Ocean

Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (Tepco) has developed subdrainage plan to release radioactive groundwater into the ocean after it has been treated

A fishermen’s group in Fukushima Prefecture has decided to approve Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s plan to release radioactive groundwater near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the ocean after it has been treated.

The Soma-Futaba Fisheries Cooperative Association made the decision at a directors meeting Monday. The group brings together fishermen operating on the northern coast of Fukushima.

Another fisheries cooperative association on the prefecture’s southern coast is also likely to back the plan.

Meanwhile, the wider Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations is expected to hold a special meeting of co-op chiefs by early August to formally approve the plan.

The plan is aimed at preventing groundwater from flowing into and mixing with highly contaminated water in the power plant’s reactor building basements and increasing the amount of tainted water.

Tepco plans to pump water from about 40 wells in and around the plant and remove most radioactive materials before releasing it into the ocean, in what it calls a “subdrainage” system. The utility expects to halve the amount of groundwater flowing into the basements from the current 300 tons a day.

Hiroyuki Sato, the head of the Soma-Futaba fishermen, said the plan will help to rebuild fisheries in Fukushima. “We must cooperate,” he said.

The prefecture-wide association will compile conditions for accepting the plan, such as a call for Tepco to make efforts to dispel contamination fears about local seafood products.

In a different project to halt the buildup of contaminated water, Tepco has been conducting a bypass operation since May 2014 to pump untainted groundwater into the sea before it flows toward the nuclear plant. Pumping water from wells near the plant is more effective than the bypass operation, but treatment is also needed to remove radioactive materials from the water.

Tepco and the government jointly explained the subdrainage plan last summer.

The prefectural fisheries association started taking opinions from its members in January but briefly suspended discussions due to revelations that Tepco had failed to disclose information promptly on leaks of radioactive rainwater into the sea.

Source: Japan Times

Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here

Media

Taxonomy

• Water Pollution
• Groundwater
• Groundwater Pollution