The decontamination process is a key
element of a contentious debate over what
should be done with the nearly 1.2 million
tons of still-radioactive water being closely
watched by governments and organizations
around the world ahead of this summer’s
Tokyo Olympics.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.,
or TEPCO, says it needs to free up space as
work to decommission the damaged reactors
approaches a critical phase. It’s widely expected
that TEPCO will gradually release the water
into the nearby ocean following a government
decision allowing it to do so. The company is still
vague on the timing.
But local residents, especially fishermen, are
opposed to the plan because they think the
water release would hurt the reputation of
already battered fisheries, where annual sales
remain about half of the level before the nuclear
accident, even though the catch has cleared
strict radioactivity tests.
TEPCO Chief Decommissioning Officer Akira
Ono says the water must be disposed as the
plant’s decommissioning moves forward
because the area used by the tanks is needed
to build facilities for the retrieval of melted
reactor debris.
Workers are planning to remove a first batch
of melted debris by December 2021. Remote
control cranes are dismantling a highly
contaminated exhaust tower near Unit 2, the
first reactor to get its melted fuel removed.
At Unit 3, spent fuel units are being removed
from a cooling pool ahead of the removal of
melted fuel.