＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・政府の「原発処理水の海洋放出」正式決定を歓迎。風評被害の元凶は中韓！
<Added August 27, 2023> China is releasing up to 6.5 times the amount of “treated water” that Japan has planned to release!
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported the following on June 23, 2023, but other media outlets have not reported it.
It has been revealed that several nuclear power plants operated domestically in China are releasing up to approximately 6.5 times the amount of radioactive tritium compared to the annual planned release of treated water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, which is scheduled to begin this summer. This was discovered from documents prepared by the Japanese government for explanations to foreign countries. While the Chinese government has strongly opposed TEPCO’s treated water release and is conducting a campaign against it, mobilizing state-controlled media, its own nuclear power plants are releasing even more tritium.
The Japanese government compiled the documents based on China’s yearbook on nuclear energy and reports from nuclear power plant operators. According to these documents, in 2020, the Qinshan No. 3 Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province released approximately 143 trillion becquerels of tritium; in 2021, the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong Province released approximately 112 trillion becquerels; the Ningde Nuclear Power Plant in Fujian Province released approximately 102 trillion becquerels; and the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant in Liaoning Province released approximately 90 trillion becquerels. TEPCO plans to limit the total annual release from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to below 22 trillion becquerels, and claims that the tritium concentration after release will be far below the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations.
The Chinese government has reacted strongly, claiming that Japan is “unilaterally forcing through” the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (according to a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs). State-controlled media outlets have also been publishing daily claims such as, “Japan is not considering the world’s marine environment or public health” (according to the Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily). However, according to Japanese government officials, China has not reached an agreement with neighboring countries regarding the release of tritium from its nuclear power plants, nor has it provided any explanation.
<Added July 5, 2023> IAEA Report Published: Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant’s Treated Water Ocean Discharge Plan Meets International Safety Standards
In April 2021, the Japanese government decided to discharge treated water into the ocean and requested the IAEA to investigate the safety of the discharge plan. The IAEA dispatched a survey team of experts from 11 countries, including China and South Korea, to Japan to conduct on-site investigations.
According to TEPCO’s plan, the treated water will be diluted more than 100 times with a large amount of seawater before discharge, reducing the tritium concentration to less than 1/40th of the national discharge standard. It will then be released from the end of an underwater tunnel 1 kilometer offshore.
Given that Japan has taken such thorough measures, the criticisms and demands from the Chinese government and the South Korean opposition party seem malicious.
Furthermore, China and South Korea have also discharged treated water into the ocean, and their treated water contains far higher concentrations of tritium than Japan’s.
The fact that the Japanese media is not reporting this, and is only regurgitating criticism from Chinese and South Korean opposition parties, as well as protests from fishermen worried about reputational damage, makes it inevitable that they will be accused of “irresponsible and biased reporting that favors China and South Korea.” Are they still unable to break free from the curse of the GHQ’s WGIP (War Guilt Information Program)?
It is clear that “China and South Korea are the root cause of the reputational damage.”
<Added April 13, 2021> We welcome the government’s formal decision to release treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
While it feels a little late, I commend the government for formally deciding on the ocean release.
It’s natural that the IAEA and the US supported Japan’s decision. However, it’s infuriating, as usual, that South Korea summoned the Japanese ambassador to South Korea and made malicious and off-target criticisms. I believe the biggest cause of the reputational damage is the misinformation spread by South Korea. China’s accusation that “consent from neighboring countries hasn’t been obtained” is also misguided.
Shouldn’t Japan severely condemn the stance of South Korea and China?
I believe that many Japanese citizens, including those involved in the fishing industry, need to make an effort to understand the “release of treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean” correctly, without being misled by misinformation and false information from South Korea and other countries.
March 11th of this year (2021) marks 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. More than 40,000 people across the country are still living in evacuation centers due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.
By the way, the biggest problem right now is not only the delay in the overall progress of the “decommissioning work,” but also how to dispose of the “treated water from the nuclear power plant” containing tritium that continues to accumulate at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
1. What is “treated water from the nuclear power plant” containing tritium?
(1) Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive substance called “tritium,” a type of hydrogen. “Tritiumized water” is the state in which tritium is combined with oxygen.
It is naturally generated in the environment by “cosmic rays” from space, and is therefore contained in water vapor in the atmosphere, rainwater, seawater, and tap water. Small amounts of tritium are also taken into our bodies.
Nuclear power plants both domestically and internationally dilute the generated tritium according to each country’s standards and release it into the sea and atmosphere.
(2) Treated water from the nuclear power plant
In the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, a hydrogen explosion occurred, causing the fuel inside the reactor to melt. This is called “fuel debris,” and it remains inside the reactor even now.
Water is continuously being sprayed to cool this “fuel debris,” but the water generated is called “contaminated water” and contains high concentrations of radioactive materials.
This “contaminated water” is being purified using the “Advanced Liquid Processing System” (ALPS) to remove as much radioactive material as possible.
However, even with the full use of ALPS, tritium is difficult to remove because it exists as part of the water molecule.
This “water with residual tritium after ALPS treatment” is called “ALPS-treated water.” While this is generally called “nuclear power plant treated water,” calling it “contaminated water” is misleading.
2. Disposal Methods for Nuclear Power Plant Treated Water
Currently, the storage tanks for “treated nuclear water” are nearing full capacity (limit).
(1) Status of Examination by Japanese Experts
A government subcommittee (Subcommittee on the Handling of Treated Water, Including Multi-Nuclide Removal Equipment) published its findings from several years of examination in a report in February 2020.
The five disposal methods considered are as follows:
① Geological Injection Method
② Ocean Discharge Method
③ Steam Release Method
④ Hydrogen Release Method
⑤ Underground Burial Method
(2) Ocean Discharge is the Best Disposal Method
Of the five disposal methods listed above, “geological injection,” “hydrogen release,” and “underground burial” present numerous problems from regulatory, technical, and time-related perspectives.
Therefore, the choice will be between “ocean discharge” and “steam release,” both of which have a proven track record technically.
“Ocean discharge” is considered more reliably implementable than “steam release” due to its proven track record in ocean discharge from conventional reactors, ease of equipment handling, and monitoring methods.
However, the quantitative relationship between the amount of wastewater discharged and the amount of tritium released will not be the same as before the nuclear accident.
On the other hand, “steam release” has been used in the past with the method of evaporation using boilers, and like “ocean discharge,” the effects of radiation are considered to be sufficiently small compared to natural exposure.
However, there are problems such as the fact that there are no domestic examples of steam release, which involves evaporating liquid radioactive waste by converting it from liquid to gas, and that some radionuclides are expected to remain without being released, becoming dry.
Considering all of the above, although not perfect, wouldn’t “ocean discharge” be considered the best or second-best treatment method?
(3) Disposal methods of treated nuclear water containing tritium in other countries
Releasing treated nuclear water into the ocean is a disposal method used in many countries around the world, including South Korea.
There are reports that South Korea has previously released more than six times the amount of treated water currently stored in Fukushima Prefecture into the ocean.
Mr. Kawada stated, “The release of treated water containing tritium into the ocean is a common practice in countries around the world. Surely, the South Korean officials are aware of this,” and then posed the following question:
“At the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern South Korea, data shows that since the installation of Unit 4 in 1999, bringing the total to four units, a cumulative 6,000 terabecquerels of tritium have been released. The storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant hold only about 1,000 terabecquerels. In other words, South Korea has already released approximately six times the amount of tritium into the ocean compared to Japan.”
“To criticize other countries while simultaneously releasing large amounts of tritium one’s own is utterly despicable.”
*Mr. Kawada (Tokai Kawada) = Former Director of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO)
Quote: Yukan Fuji
Although the data is a bit old, there is a document from the Japan Marine Biological Environment Research Institute titled “Amount of Tritium Released into the Sea as Liquid Waste from Nuclear Power Plants Worldwide.”
There is also a document published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry titled “Annual Tritium Emissions from Nuclear Power Plants and Other Facilities Worldwide.”
3. Causes and Countermeasures for “Reputational Damage”
(1) Causes of Reputational Damage
① Criticism by South Korea
At an international conference, South Korea made a nonsensical criticism of Japan’s release of treated water into the ocean, calling it a “serious international issue that could affect the global marine environment.” They deliberately referred to “treated water” as “contaminated water” to damage Japan’s image.
On September 16, 2019, the first day of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Annual General Conference in Vienna, Austria, an exchange of criticism took place between Japan and South Korea regarding the disposal of treated water containing radioactive materials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
While avoiding naming names, Japan’s Minister of State for Science and Technology, Naokazu Takemoto, pointed out that “the treatment of water contaminated with radioactive materials sometimes receives criticism without scientific basis.” South Korea’s First Vice Minister of Science and ICT, Moon Mi-ok, countered as follows:
“A high-ranking Japanese government official recently said that ‘the release of contaminated water from the nuclear power plant into the ocean is unavoidable.’ If ocean release is decided, it will be a serious international issue that could affect the global marine environment. A joint role by the IAEA and member states is necessary. The issue of the Fukushima nuclear contaminated water treatment is amplifying anxiety worldwide.”
According to information from the scene, the South Korean side consistently used the term “contaminated water” rather than “treated water,” emphasizing their fear of ocean release. The Japanese side denied the claims, stating that the water was treated water that had been purified from contaminated water and that the claims were not based on facts. The assembly hall was reportedly enveloped in an unusual atmosphere. Source: Sankei Shimbun
In addition to the above, there were other malicious import bans imposed by South Korea. Regarding South Korea’s ban on imports of seafood from eight prefectures, including Fukushima, Japan filed a complaint with the WTO (World Trade Organization), claiming the ban was unfair.
However, in April 2019, the WTO issued a final ruling upholding South Korea’s measures. While Japan won the first instance, strangely, the higher court’s ruling, while acknowledging that “Japanese food products are scientifically safe,” resulted in a “reversal victory” for South Korea.
The “radiation issue” appears to be one of South Korea’s “anti-Japan cards.”
② Opposition movements by environmental protection groups
③ Rumors and misinformation lacking scientific basis
④ Media coverage in newspapers and television that incites anxiety
⑤ The deeply rooted “zero-risk myth” in Japan
(2) Measures against reputational damage
Some media outlets have pointed out the negative impact on fisheries associated with the release of “tritium-contaminated water” into the ocean. While gaining the understanding of those involved in the fishing industry and local residents is crucial, I believe it’s essential for the government to raise awareness among the general public so that they can correctly understand the release of treated water into the ocean without being misled by unfounded rumors and misinformation.
Furthermore, to prevent “reputational damage,” Japan must continue to assert its position confidently against South Korea, which repeatedly makes misguided criticisms, and against other countries that believe its false claims.