![]() No effects caused by tritium have been observed in the vicinity of these facilities. Actually, water containing tritium is generated at nuclear facilities around the world, and each facility discharges it in compliance with safety standards. However, the radiation energy emitted by tritium is very weak and if tritium were to enter the human body, it is not expected to accumulate. No technology that can be applied to the removal of tritium from water currently exists. Since tritium bonds with oxygen to form a liquid with virtually identical properties as water, it is extremely difficult to separate tritium alone from water. Tritium is a radioactive material present in all water on earth, including rainwater, seawater, and tap water, as well as in the human body. In the case of discharging into the sea, concerns have been raised about the presence of tritium in ALPS treated water. The ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) at Fukushima Daiichi NPS In April 2021, after more than six years of deliberation, the Government of Japan announced its policy of discharging ALPS treated water into the sea, taking into consideration the precedents both in Japan and overseas as well as ease of monitoring. Therefore, eliminating the tanks by disposing of the ALPS treated water, in which radioactive materials other than tritium are purified from the contaminated water by ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) until it meets regulatory standards, has become a crucial task for the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi NPS and reconstruction of Fukushima. Although TEPCO is currently conducting decommissioning work with various tasks at the Fukushima Daiichi NPS, there are concerns about the lack of space to build the facilities needed for future decommissioning work due to the storage tanks occupying the site, as well as concerns about the risk of the tanks leaking in the event of a disaster. However, it is difficult to immediately stop the generation of new contaminated water, and more than 1,000 tanks are expected to be full by fall 2023. In response, TEPCO has been taking measures such as installing impermeable walls and pumping up groundwater. Water that comes in contact with fuel debris becomes contaminated water containing high concentrations of radioactive materials, which then mix with groundwater and rainwater that flows into the reactor buildings, generating new contaminated water. Nevertheless, water continues to be injected into the reactors to cool the “fuel debris,” which is melted fuel mixed with structural materials that have solidified. ![]() To date, the amount of radioactive materials released has remained at a level that has had virtually no environmental impact. After the explosion, countermeasures taken including the cooling of reactors resulted in a sharp decline in the amount of radioactive materials released, and the reactors were placed in “cold shutdown” status in December of that year. Hydrogen gas was generated, and it caused a hydrogen explosion, releasing radioactive materials into the environment. At Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter, “Fukushima Daiichi NPS”) in Fukushima Prefecture, the cooling system for the reactors was shut down, causing the three reactors that were in operation to reach high temperatures and melt fuel. The Great East Japan Earthquake of Macaused extensive damage from the tsunami, especially along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region. ![]() IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (center) holding a bottle containing a sample of the ALPS treated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi NPS in May 2022 The Government of Japan, under review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is pushing forward with preparations to discharge the ALPS treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the sea in a safe and highly transparent manner in accordance with international safety standards.
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