The controversial marine dumping of Fukushima waters begins

The beginning of a controversial process. the Japan On Thursday, the process of unloading into the ocean began security Water from the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

The complex process began shortly after 1 p.m., after a short countdown, according to a live video feed from Tepco, the plant’s operator. This first leak is supposed to last about 17 days and relates to about 7,800 cubic meters of water from the plant containing tritium, a radioactive substance that is dangerous only in highly concentrated doses.

This Japanese project raises anxiety and anger in some Asian neighbors. And after the start of this maneuver. Beijing It denounced the “selfish and irresponsible” behavior it announced on Thursday to suspend all imports of seafood products from Japan. side South KoreaMore than a dozen people have been arrested for trying to enterEmbassy Japanese police in Seoul announced, during a demonstration to condemn the discharge of water into the sea from the Fukushima plant, that the policeFrance Press agency. Japanese fishermen also fear the impact on the image of their products.

In total, 1.3 million cubic meters of wastewater will be discharged

TEPCO Three more leaks are expected by the end of next March, with volumes equivalent to the first. In all, Japan plans to evacuate more than 1.3 million cubic meters of sewage stored so far at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant site to the Pacific Ocean, from rainwater, groundwater and injections needed to cool reactor cores that have been hit by meltdown. The March 2011 tsunami that devastated the northeastern coast of the country.

This process will be very gradual – it is supposed to continue until the 2050s – and the metric water content in the daily discharge to the sea will not exceed 500 cubic metres. The water has been pre-filtered to remove most of the radioactive material in it, with the exception of tritium.

International Atomic Energy Agency (International Atomic Energy Agency(which oversees waste disposal) gave the go-ahead in July, saying the project complied with “international safety standards” and would have “a minimal radioactive impact on the population and the environment.”

20 minutes with AFP