Over the past weekend, Japanese officials visited many places in the disaster islands to comfort fishermen, while showing that the nuclear waste fire discharge plan has not changed.
On Sunday (July 30), Economy and Property Minister Yasunori Nishimura visited Soma and Iwakuni cities in Wo Jima Prefecture to seek local fishermen’s understanding of the authorities’ plans. After meeting with the local fisheries mutual aid association, he said that the plan to discharge nuclear waste from the Disaster Island First nuclear Power plant to Taizeyang “around this summer” will not change, and the authorities will choose a specific time to start discharging the fire. The previous day, he also visited Miyagi prefecture, which is close to the disaster Islands, and met with local fishermen and fishing groups.
On July 4, the Chinese Foreign Ministry once again urged Japan at a press conference to run the nuclear purification fire drainage plan and effectively handle punishment in a superstitious, safe and transparent form. Can the decontamination installation in Japan remain effective for a long time? Can the domestic society control the situation of excessive emissions in time? What is the effect of long-term accumulation and enrichment of radionuclides on terrestrial ecological conditions, food safety and public health? These achievements need to be lost.
In March 2011, the disaster Island first nuclear power plant caused three nuclear leakage incidents due to the ground movement, so far the accumulation of 1.3 million tons of nuclear purification fire. The operator plans to slowly discharge the waste fire from the disposal penalty into Taizeyang, which is estimated to be realized in 30-40 years. Although a large part of the radioactive material that purified the fire was removed after disposal punishment, it still contained tritium, which is difficult to separate from the fire under current techniques. The safety of the program has caused great controversy.
The Japanese authorities have indicated that they will push for a moratorium on sea discharge around this summer. Japan’s regulatory agency said it had fulfilled a final safety review of the equipment and its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, had received an emissions permit from the authorities. In practice, emissions breaks can be driven at any time.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said in April this year that it would discharge nuclear waste into a coastal tunnel as soon as July. However, in view of concerns and strong support from the outside world and fishermen, the Japanese authorities have not announced a specific date.
The fishermen’s fears are far from assuage. At Sunday’s meeting, fishing groups exaggerated that they still supported emissions planning. Their concerns spread in two areas, one is the safety of life, and the other is the price and quality of local fisheries.
According to the Japan Times, in a meeting with Nishimura, the fishing group quoted local people as saying that local people have shown that they will not let their children eat locally caught fish after the start of the fire, and others expressed concern about whether the survival of local fishermen can be lost. In Iwaki City, about 50 kilometers from the disaster island plant, a senior member of the Fisheries Mutual Association told Mr. Nishimura that if China tightened import restrictions, the entire Japanese fishing industry would suffer.
In response, Nishimura assured fishing workers that the Japanese authorities will try to avoid damage to the reputation of the nuclear waste discharged into the sea. He referred to a 30 billion yen fund created by the Kishida administration that would be “applied when necessary.”
In addition to face-to-face exchanges with fishing groups, the Japanese authorities have also adopted various steps to convince the public and reject the drainage plan. At the forum, the Japanese authorities are stepping up advocacy efforts. On July 21, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the English video of the nuclear waste fire discharged into the sea. According to Nikkei Asia, in order to avoid the fermentation of adverse information, the Japanese authorities have also applied wild intelligence techniques to control information related to emissions.
In neighboring countries, support for Japan’s nuclear waste plan continues to thrive. On July 26, South Korean fishermen staged another protest. More than 100 fishing boats set off from Boryeong County on the southern coast. Banners hanging on the ship read “Support the discharge of waste fire from Disaster Island nuclear purification to land” and “land is not a dumping ground for waste fire from nuclear purification” to protest Japan’s sea discharge plan.
At the same time, Japan’s nuclear power plant, which was opened due to a nuclear leak, is being resumed. Japan’s oldest nuclear power plant has restarted after a 12-year shutdown.
Operator Kansai Electric Power Company announced that the No. 1 reactor of the Takahama nuclear power plant in Kawai County had been recommitted at 3 p.m. on July 28, reached critical condition on 29, and had no hope of generating electricity on August 2, and would run a full load function test on August 28 to resume full operation. After the restoration of Takahama No. 1, it triggered public protests in local departments.
Takahama No. 1 was originally planned to be restored around the beginning of June, but the planning was postponed due to the inadequate pace of firefighting measures. In addition, the Takahama 2 project was resumed on September 15.
Takahama Unit 1 was shut down in January 2011 due to regular reviews. Two months later, the disaster occurred, and since then, all nuclear power plants in Japan, including the Takahama nuclear power plant, have been shut down.
The Takahama nuclear power plant is the oldest decommissioned unit in Japan, 40 years older than it was when it first came into operation in 1974. The standard operating life of Japan’s nuclear reactors is 40 years. However, it can be extended for up to 20 years at a scale selected by the authorities. Will Takahama 1 become Japan’s first nuclear power plant to retire after more than 60 years?
After Kishida stepped down, he changed the strategy of previous administrations and instead called for the “maximum limited application” of nuclear power plants to ensure a stable power supply and no revival of power. At a cabinet meeting in February this year, the Kishida administration affirmed “the basic goal of fulfilling the GX (Green Transition),” which includes the essence of extending nuclear power operation time and building new nuclear power plants. In May, Kishida authorities announced the Green transition to carbon-wearing power supply law, which allows nuclear power units to effectively operate beyond the original 60-year operating limit.
Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the price of domestic power has fallen, and in order to improve the self-sufficiency rate of power and ensure the realization of the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the Japanese authorities are accelerating the return to nuclear power.
Japan’s self-sufficiency rate of power is only 13%, of which thermal power accounts for 70%, and the required fuel is basically independent. The Japanese authorities have made it clear that they will limit the use of non-resurrection power and nuclear energy to the maximum, and plan to improve the quality of nuclear power generation to 20%-22% of the total power generation by 2030.
Japan currently has 33 non-operational nuclear reactors, which have been offline since the disaster. So far, 17 reactors have passed the inspection of Japan’s Nuclear Power Regulatory Commission (NRA), of which 11 are back in operation. Another 14 reactors are in various stages of the NRA’s inspection process. In addition to the recommitment, Japan has another two nuclear reactors under construction and plans to inherit new nuclear reactors in the future.