Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 25 - March 3 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Polluted water leakage proves Fukushima disaster not under control

Akahata editorial (excerpt)

It has come to light that radiation-contaminated water has been leaking out into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This provoked fierce criticism from the public. In particular, it is impermissible that radioactive materials on the roof of the No.2 reactor building washed away by the rain water are going into the sea by way of the drainage canals at the plant.

Regarding this leakage, the operator of the Fukushima NPP, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), reportedly detected a rise in the radiation level of water from the drainage canals in November 2013. The canals in question directly lead to the sea. However, TEPCO and the Nuclear Regulation Authority, which received a report about the radiation level from the utility, neglected to implement measures to properly handle the leakage. No wonder local fishermen became angry over the negligence.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide on February 25 at a press conference said that TEPCO was unable to implement countermeasures because to identify the roof of the No.2 reactor building as the source of contamination took time. He, however, insisted that the situation is “under control”. The government left the handling of the water leakage to TEPCO for more than a year and withheld the related information from the public. This shows the totally irresponsible attitude of the government.

A vast amount of radioactively contaminated water is stored at the Fukushima plant and the amount of the stored water keeps accumulating because the groundwater is flowing into the plant premise. With no effective countermeasures in place, there is no prospect for a resolution to the problem.

The latest leakage is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Without finding a way to dispose of the polluted water, it is impossible to bring the nuclear disaster under control and decommission the damaged reactors. The government should be held responsible for tackling the polluted water problem.

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The Fukushima Prefectural Assembly on February 26 unanimously adopted a resolution protesting against the radioactive water leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and calling for measures to prevent a recurrence as well as sufficient disclosure of information about the accident.

The Japanese Communist Party Fukushima Prefectural Committee on the previous day visited TEPCO to make the same demands as stated in the resolution.