The Japanese government has said that it would begin discharging polluted water from Fukushima, the nuclear power plant that was destroyed by a tsunami in 2011, into the ocean sometime “around this spring or summer.” March is traditionally considered to be the beginning of Japan’s spring season, whereas June is the beginning of summer.
Since the meltdown in April 2021, Japan has given its approval for the release of more over one million tons of water that was needed to cool the reactors. The water, which is currently being held in tanks at the site of the destroyed plant in Japan’s northeast, would be treated before being released, but the plan has been condemned by neighboring countries, Pacific nations, and local fishing communities who are afraid it will affect their ability to make a living. The water, which has the same volume as around 500 swimming pools of the Olympic size, has been treated, but it is currently undergoing a second round of filtering to get rid of any dangerous isotopes. Before any of it is released into the ocean, it will first be watered down to comply with international regulations. Even after it has been filtered, the water will still contain trace amounts of tritium, which is a difficult isotope of hydrogen to isolate from water, according to a statement made by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July, indicating that regulators had determined that the water could be released safely. In March of 2011, a tsunami that was caused by one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in history was responsible for the destruction of the Fukushima facility.
After the incident, tens of thousands of people were forced to abandon their houses, and the United Nations estimates that around 40,000 people are still unable to return to their properties due of the radioactive pollution. It is anticipated that the process of decommissioning the facility and cleaning up the radioactivity would take several decades. Tokyo Electric Power, the company that owns the facility, is the one in charge of overseeing the procedure.
