IAEA urges quick plan on Fukushimaradioactive water cleanup13 November 2018, by Mari Yamaguchi

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team leaderChristophe Xerri, Director of the IAEA's Division ofNuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, listens to aquestion during a press conference on a review Japan'sdecommissioning work at Fukushima Daiichi Site inTokyo Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. Experts from theInternational Atomic Energy Agency have urged theoperator of Japan's tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclearplant to urgently come up with a plan to dispose ofmassive amounts of radioactive water stored in tanks onthe compound. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Experts from the International Atomic EnergyAgency urged the operator of Japan's tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Tuesday tourgently decide on a plan to dispose of massiveamounts of treated but still radioactive water storedin tanks on the compound.

A 13-member IAEA team told reporters in Tokyoafter a weeklong review that managing nearly 1million tons of radioactive water is critical to theplant's safe and sustainable decommissioning.

The IAEA team said in a preliminary report thathundreds of tanks currently used to store the waterover large areas of the plant's compound can onlybe a temporary solution and must be removed"urgently."

The cores of three reactors at the plant sufferedmeltdowns following a massive 2011 earthquakeand tsunami that devastated parts of northeasternJapan.

Radioactive water has leaked from the damagedreactors and mixed with groundwater and rainwaterat the plant. The water is treated and stored in largetanks.

More than 7 ½ years since the accident, officialshave yet to agree on what to do with the radioactivewater. A government-commissioned panel haspicked five alternatives, including the controlledrelease of the water into the Pacific Ocean, whichnuclear experts say is the only realistic option.Fishermen and residents, however, stronglyoppose the proposal.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team leaderChristophe Xerri, left, Director of the IAEA's Division ofNuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, and AndrewOrrell, right, Section Head of the IAEA's Waste andEnvironmental Safety Section, attend during a pressconference on a review Japan's decommissioning workat Fukushima Daiichi Site in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 13,2018. Experts from the International Atomic EnergyAgency have urged the operator of Japan's tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to urgently come upwith a plan to dispose of massive amounts of radioactive

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water stored in tanks on the compound. (APPhoto/Eugene Hoshiko)

That option faced a major setback this summerwhen the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric PowerCo., acknowledged that the water, which it said hadbeen carefully treated, was not clean enough. Itsaid the water contains cancer-causing cesium andother elements in excess of allowable limits forrelease into the environment.

The IAEA interim report said TEPCO could run outof space for tanks in a few years, and the waterstorage adds to safety risks and could hamper thedecommissioning of the plant, which is already anunprecedented challenge.

It said the water problem has improved recentlybecause of measures such as an undergroundfrozen wall installed around the reactor buildings tokeep the radioactive water from mixing withgroundwater. It suggested that TEPCO couldfurther reduce the amount of contaminated waterby cutting back on the use of cooling water injectedinto the reactors because the temperature of themelted fuel has fallen significantly.

IAEA mission leader Christophe Xerri told reportersthat it is uncertain whether all of the melted fuel canever be successfully removed because too little isknown about the damage to the cores of the threereactors.

TEPCO and government officials plan to startremoving the melted fuel in 2021. Robotic probesinside the reactors have detected traces ofdamaged fuel but its exact location, contents andother details remain largely unknown.

"If you don't have the information it's very difficult tosay it's possible or not" to remove all the fuel, Xerrisaid.

The team's final report from its review is expectedin late January.

© 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.APA citation: IAEA urges quick plan on Fukushima radioactive water cleanup (2018, November 13)

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retrieved 18 November 2018 from https://phys.org/news/2018-11-iaea-urges-quick-fukushima-radioactive.html

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