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Contaminated water is currently being stored in roughly 1,000 tanks located at the Fukushima Daiichi site. (AP/Yonhap News)

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, is pursuing plans to release radioactively contaminated water into the ocean around one kilometer away from the plant’s location.

TEPCO announced a plan on Wednesday that involved hooking up a pipeline from Fukushima Daiichi to discharge contaminated water into the ocean one kilometer away. The target is to begin releasing the water into the ocean in spring 2023 after preliminary research and procedures to secure approval from the relevant authorities, it explained.

Previously, TEPCO had been weighing different approaches for dealing with the contaminated water that has continued to be produced since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. One approach would involve immediately sending the water outside of the plant, and the other world involved hooking up a pipeline to release the water into the ocean some distance away from the coast.

According to Japanese news outlets, TEPCO decided on releasing the water away from the coast, having concluded that it was more likely to be carried away on ocean currents so that its radioactive content would be diluted more quickly.

In April of this year, the Japanese government decided on a plan for releasing contaminated water from Fukushima Daiichi into the ocean after first using multi-nuclide removal equipment (known as “ALPS”) to filter out the radioactive material mixed into it.

In the case of tritium, a radioactive hydrogen isotope that cannot be removed with ALPS due to its similar properties to water, the plan is to dilute it to concentrations below one-fortieth of the standard before discharging it into the ocean.

Since the water is being processed with ALPS to remove most of its radioactive material apart from the tritium, the Japanese government has insisted that it would be releasing “treated water” rather than “contaminated water.”

A day earlier on Tuesday, the Japanese government also announced measures to address losses to the seafood industry.

The plans included government purchasing of seafood if prices decline due to the release of water from the nuclear power plant. The measure is meant to address possible “reputational damage” as consumers shun food products from the Fukushima region over concerns about radioactive contamination.

The Japanese government plans to provide support to ensure markets by setting up a fund to purchase freezable seafood while providing information about different potential purchasers in cases where the seafood cannot be frozen. The specifics, including the amount of the fund, are scheduled to be finalized by the end of the year.

The seafood industry measures would apply not just to Fukushima Prefecture but to the entire country. They would also include increased promotional efforts to encourage understanding among consumers — but many observers are raising questions about how effective this approach will actually be.

The reason the Japanese government has come out with the measures to address “reputational damage” — including its previous policies — is because local fishers remain opposed to the dumping of contaminated water into the ocean.

“We reiterate that we are firmly opposed to the ocean release of this ‘treated water,’” the Japanese fishers’ federation JF Zengyoren said.

“We once again demand that the state provide a clear answer to our requests,” it added.

By Cho Ki-weon, staff reporter

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