BERLIN (AP) — The U. N. nuclear watchdog said April 29 that Japan is making “significant progress” in its plans to discharge treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant next year.
A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the plant in February and met with the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
“Japan has made significant progress in its preparations, and the executing organization is pleased that TEPCO and METI have learned of the appropriate next steps for the planned water discharge for 2023,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Japan has requested IAEA assistance to ensure that the release meets foreign protection criteria and to reassure neighboring countries that have harshly criticized the plan. Grossi said the agency’s experts will continue to work so that the team “can provide their findings prior to release. “
The water is stored in about 1,000 tanks of the damaged plant that want to be disposed of so that facilities can be built for its dismantling. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1. 37 million tons by the end of this year.
A giant earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, causing 3 reactors to melt and release giant amounts of radiation. The water used from the spin of the destination to cool the cores of the broken reactors, which remain highly radioactive. , has leaked a lot.