Japan Considers Fukushima N-Plant Water Release to Sea, Air

Tokyo, Dec. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan's industry ministry revealed on Monday three plans for disposing of treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant--releasing it into the sea, into the air or both. The three plans were included in a draft report presented at a meeting of experts discussing ways to dispose of such water, produced after purifying tainted water from the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. The draft report said that the release into the sea or the air is feasible because it was carried out before. But the ministry now plans to revise the draft after experts raised strong concern about possible reputational damage from the release of such water. One of the experts said that even if the three plans are technically feasible, they pose problems in terms of reputation damage. But another expert took a positive stance, saying that having past examples will lead to a sense of relief. The draft report rejected three other plans--pouring away or burying the water below the ground or releasing it after processing into hydrogen, saying they are unrealistic due to technological difficulties . The ministry once considered continuing to store the water in tanks, but the draft did not adopt the plan due to limited storage capacity and leakage risks. The panel was established in November 2016 to discuss how to dispose of such water stored in the premises of the nuclear plant, in terms of technological as well as social aspects, including reputation damage. The government will take a final decision on the disposal of such water based on a report from the panel. END