A look at the plan to release Fukushima’s treated radioactive water into the sea

Miles O'Brien Miles O'Brien

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Japan is expected to release treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant as soon as Thursday. The government and the utility operating the facility say it is safe and the release is being closely monitored, but nearby countries oppose the move. It's also a concern for Japanese fishermen. Miles O'Brien has his latest report in a series of stories with access to Fukushima.

Geoff Bennett:

Japan is expected to release treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, and that may begin as soon as tomorrow.

The government and the utility operating Fukushima say it's safe to do so and that the release is being closely monitored. But nearby countries oppose the move and worry it won't be safe. That's also a real concern for Japanese fishermen.

Miles O'Brien recently traveled to Japan for a series of stories with exclusive access at Fukushima. He's back with this latest report.

Miles O’Brien:

At the toxic waste site that was the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the plumbing and the pumps are now in place. All that's left is to open the valves and start releasing diluted, yet radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

Lake Barrett, TEPCO Adviser:

This is where all the water comes together before it would be discharged to the ocean in a controlled manner.

Miles O’Brien:

My guide for this extraordinary tour was nuclear engineer Lake Barrett. He led the cleanup campaign for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the wake of the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979.

He is now a paid consultant to the owner of Fukushima, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO.

Lake Barrett:

If it was fresh water, I would drink it and have my grandchildren drink it, OK? So it's not a risk that I believe and most people believe is one of concern.

Miles O’Brien:

But fisherman Haruo Ono is not convinced. Homeport for him is 30 miles to the north of the plant in Soma City.

After the tsunami and subsequent triple meltdowns in 2011, he and the others here were put out of business, unable to sell seafood for fear of contamination.

Haruo Ono, Fisherman (through interpreter):

We couldn't sell fish in the beginning, but we tried hard and eventually resumed. But, this time, we may not be able to sell fish because they will release the water forever.

Miles O’Brien:

Forever, in this case, is about 35 years. That is how long TEPCO says it needs to safely drain these tanks into the Pacific Ocean.

The company is anxious to make room to remove and secure all the radioactive materials the meltdowns left behind, a chore that will take decades. The tanks contain 340 million gallons of water that flowed through the melted remnants of the reactors. It is tainted with tritium, a mildly radioactive form of hydrogen that occurs naturally.

It is luminescent, used to light watch dials, aircraft gauges, and exit signs. It reacts with oxygen, just like regular hydrogen, creating water that is radioactive. It cannot be practically separated from H2O in quantities this large.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (through interpreter): I deeply understand the fishermen's anxiety and concerns.

Miles O’Brien:

Yasutoshi Nishimura is the minister of economy, trade, and industry.

Yasutoshi Nishimura (through interpreter):

The experts concluded after six years of research that the most appropriate way is to purify and dilute the water, then discharge it to the ocean, in line with the international standard, or even lower.

Miles O’Brien:

In July, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency released it's assessment of the Fukushima Daiichi water discharge plan, calling it consistent with relevant international safety standards and concluding it would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.

The agency vows to continue its review during the discharge phase, having a continuous on-site presence.

Ken Buesseler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute:

The health consequences are low for tritium, but there is debate certainly a factor of 10 what the level should be in drinking water.

Miles O’Brien:

Marine radiochemist Ken Buesseler is a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He says every nuclear power plant in the world releases tritium-tainted water.

Ken Buesseler:

With 400 or so nuclear power plants around the world releasing tritium, it would be hard to single out this particular site and say, no, you can't, the others are OK. The other 399 sites are releasing it, and the ocean contains tritium already from those atmospheric nuclear weapons testing going back, '50s and '60s.

Miles O’Brien:

Regardless, Japan's neighbors are crying foul.

Woman:

Japan has yet to produce solid scientific proof to convince the international community that its safe.

Woman:

If it were China going to release some radioactive water into the ocean, the Western media will be — explode.

Miles O’Brien:

State-run media in China has led a chorus of condemnation, along with Pacific Island nations and, until a recent election, South Korea.

But Japan says the critique from its regional rivals deliberately ignores the science and is hypocritical. China is the fastest-growing nuclear power producer in the world. Nishimura says just one of its plants discharges about seven times more tritium a year than what is planned at Fukushima.

Yasutoshi Nishimura (through interpreter):

Through intensive outreach, we are trying to win the understanding of stakeholders.

Miles O’Brien:

To do that, Japan must dig its way out of a hole, which it started at the outset of the disaster.

Azby Brown, Safecast:

The government failed to inform people adequately about the spread of radiation, about the risks.

Miles O’Brien:

Azby Brown is an American expat who has lived in Japan for 37 years. He is lead researcher for Safecast, a nonprofit created in 2011 to address the communication meltdown.

They distributed 1,000 Geiger counters all throughout the stricken region and beyond and installed fixed sensors as well. They still maintain 17 near the plant. They say TEPCO and the government of Japan lack transparency and inclusiveness.

Azby Brown:

If they do what they say they're going to do, the risk will probably be very low to health and to marine life. But they're not transparent enough about what's actually in those tanks. They haven't made water samples available to independent researchers, of whom there are many very, very qualified people around the world.

They haven't done anything that really would actually help build trust in what they want to do.

Miles O’Brien:

Scientists like Ken Buesseler would like some academic rigor.

Ken Buesseler:

You would want to have someone other than the operator in charge of disposing of this check those numbers in the tanks. And equally as important, as an oceanographer, I would want to be out there now measuring for this suite, this range of different radionuclides in the seawater, on the seafloor, in the sea life, just to establish those baselines very clearly.

Miles O’Brien:

Water from the tanks containing tritium will flow to this spot at about 100 gallons a minute, where it will be mixed and diluted.

Lake Barrett:

Clean water is brought in from the ocean through three 1000-horsepower pumps, each flow about 33,000 gallons per minute.

Miles O’Brien:

The water will flow through this large tunnel to a discharge point two-thirds-of-a-mile offshore. A two-square-mile area around it will be closed to fishing.

Inside the plant, TEPCO has built fish tanks filled with flounder. Some are exposed to the diluted tritium. The utility says it will closely monitor their health. It's an effort to assure the public. But that is of little consolation to fisherman Haruo Ono.

Haruo Ono (through interpreter):

If you throw garbage or anything else in the sea, you will be punished. Why is only tritium different and allowed to be dumped in the sea? Really, the politicians in office now are stupid or something else, I don't know. Whatever they say, we can't recover our jobs.

Miles O’Brien:

The politicians apparently have reckoned with this possibility, creating a 50 billion yen, $340 million, fund to compensate fishermen for potential losses.

Scientists may not be worried about properly diluted tritium, but perceptions driven by fear and fed by misinformation can become reality at the seafood counter.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles O'Brien in Soma City, Japan.

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Miles O'Brien Miles O'Brien

Miles O’Brien is a veteran, independent journalist who focuses on science, technology and aerospace.