Japan Press Weekly

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2014 August 20 - 26 [POLITICS]

State should play its role in tackling problems of radioactive water in Fukushima plant

Akahata editorial (excerpt)

It is becoming clear that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is incapable of handling the vast amount of radioactive water which continues to be stored in the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and some of which is being discharged from the plant.

In the summer last year, a large amount of highly contaminated water leaked out from storage tanks in the plant and allegedly was discharged into the sea, arousing grave concerns in the international society. The government expressed its intention to take the lead in addressing this problem. It, however, only held a meeting of Cabinet members in September. In the same month, at a meeting related to Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo claimed that the radioactive water problem at the crippled plant is “under control”. This provoked fierce criticism as lacking any sense of crisis and being out of touch with reality.

The amount of ground water flooding into the premises of the Fukushima NPP is 400 tons a day, and the water is exposed to radioactive substances in the reactor building.

A tunnel leading from the reactor building toward the sea contains 11,000 tons of highly contaminated water. It has been pointed out that the water may be escaping from the tunnel. TEPCO is trying to fill in the area joining the reactor building and the tunnel and pump up the contaminated water.

The power company in April began an attempt to close off the area by freezing it. The attempt, however, has yet to be completed. Now, the utility plans to fill the area with cement, indicating a degree of indecision and inconsistency in dealing with the problem.

The contaminated water problem is too much for TEPCO to handle on its own. The Abe government left the problem to the utility even after saying that the state will play a leading role in solving the radioactive water problem. The government should fulfill its responsibility by employing all means necessary to properly deal with the problem.