Japan to release Fukushima nuclear wastewater: How dangerous is tritium?

Final preparations to discharge waste water from the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan were under way, its operator said, a day before the scheduled release into the Pacific Ocean.

Tokyo had announced that the operation would begin on Thursday, prompting an angry response around the world, and partial import bans on Japanese seafood by Hong Kong and Macau.

Last June, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had endorsed a contentious plan for Japan to release treated wastewater from the ill-fated Fukushima nuclear power plant, setting off a flurry of domestic and international reaction over concerns about the dangers of the radioactive material.

The controversial decision has placed Japan in the centre of the spotlight with its mixed record of safety at Fukushima, while also shedding light about the possible dangers of the radioactive chemical tritium, which other countries like China and the US have also been unloading into bodies of water in their own backyard and in greater volume in some cases.

UN nuclear agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi signalled his approval of Tokyo's plan, after touring the facility, which had been badly damaged following a powerful 9.1 magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami in 2011 that also killed as many as 22,000 people.

“I was satisfied with what I saw,” Grossi was quoted by news reports as saying, after his visit to Fukushima. "I don't see any pending issues."

The IAEA had already indicated as early as April that it will back Japan's plan despite criticism from several countries, most prominent of which is its geopolitical rival and neighbour, China.

How will Japan release the radioactive water?

Before the release of the contaminated water, operators of the nuclear facility would first have to move it though a pipeline from its storage area to a treatment facility built by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). From there, it will be released through an undersea tunnel one kilometre from the shores of Fukushima.

Grossi said the the method is certified by the IAEA and is followed around the world. Ahead of his Fukushima visit, the nuclear agency also released a report explaining that the treated wastewater, will be safer than the international standard and that its impact on the environment and humans would be negligible.

These assurances, however, have so far fell on deaf ears among Japan's fishing community, which is worried that that the move could lead to dwindling fish supply, eventually endangering their source of livelihood.

Fishing organisations also said that they could face further reputational damage in the international market given the news coverage, with possible restrictions imposed on their product.

China had earlier threatened to impose more limits on where seafoods can be sourced from Japan.

According to data from the Japanese fishing industry, 22.5 percent of its seafood exports worth as much as 87 billion yen ($604 million) goes to China - still its number one market even with some regulations already in place. Hong Kong, an autonomous Chinese city, ranks second with 19.5 percent followed by the US at 13.9 percent. More than 50 percent of Japanese scallop experts also goes to China.

How dangerous is tritium to humans?

At the core of the debate is the question about the danger of the radioactive chemical, tritium, contained in the water used to cool the reactors at Fukushima.

Tritium is a hydrogen atom produced naturally in the upper atmosphere of the earth. Although it can be in gas form, most of it is in liquid form attaching itself to the water because it is made of hydrogen.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people are exposed to small amounts of the tritium every day since it is widely dispersed in the environment. The risk posed by exposure to small amounts of the chemical "is typically not significant", the EPA said. But exposure from "elevated levels" of tritium "can pose a health risk to individuals".

According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, tritium is a relatively weak source of beta radiation. However, it said, the chemical "can increase the risk of cancer if consumed in extremely large quantities".

Others like Robert Richmond of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, disagree, warning that Japan's decision will be irreversible with possibly severe implications.

“The belief that our oceans can receive limitless quantities of pollutants without any detrimental effects is demonstrably false,” Richmond was quoted by the Global Seafood Alliance as saying.

Until now, however, there is still no sufficient study about the dangers that tritium exposure has on marine life.

How is radioactive water in Fukushima being stored?

At Fukushima, the water contaminated with tritium are currently being stored within the complex. But storage capacity is fast dwindling making it necessary for Japanese authorities to release the water.

With the advancement in technology, Japan's wastewater treatment facility has been able to remove most of the dangerous elements from the radioactive water. But until today, technology is still not advance enough to remove the radioactive tritium from the water.

According to TEPCO, the release of the wastewater will be done gradually over decades.

Annual release from the Fukushima plant will be limited at 22 trillion becquerels, it said. TEPCO also assured that the tritium levels in the sea after the release will be even far lower than standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organisations.

Following Grossi's latest visit to Fukushima, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed that his government will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally”, to assure safety about the release of the radioactive waste.

Given Japan's spotty record of safety at Fukushima, however, Kishida's assurance may not be enough to tamp down environmental concerns.

Japan's own regulator, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and TEPCO, had previously been criticised for not following international best practices and standards to safeguard the power plant from possible major earthquakes and tsunami.

An analysis conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that the Fukushima plant "would have withstood the tsunami had its design previously been upgraded in accordance with state-of-the-art safety approaches."

Is it safe to eat seafood from Fukushima area?

Fukushima’s own fishermen are adamant that Japan revoke its plan to release the radioactive water.

During Gross's visit, Fukushima's fishery association head, Tetsu Nozaki, urged government officials “to remember that the treated water plan was pushed forward despite our opposition.”

A survey conducted in March by the Japanese publication, Asahi Shimbun, indicated that 51 percent of people surveyed supported the government's plan while 41 percent oppose it.

In neighbouring South Korea, the largest fisheries market in Seoul said it is stepping up testing to show its offerings are safe, as it seeks to allay fears among consumers about the impending plan of Japan.

The conservative government of President Yoon Suk Yeol, which is trying to balance its improving ties with Japan and the domestic concerns of its own consumers, said the release would have "negligible consequences" for South Korea.

South Korea's policy coordination minister Bang Moon-kyu said that Seoul had carried out its own separate review of Tokyo's plan, and found that Japan would meet or exceed key international standards.

Meanwhile in Beijing, the government is highlighting the controversy, accusing Japan of treating the Pacific Ocean as a sewer.

What other countries are releasing nuclear wastewater into the ocean?

In response, the Japanese government pointed out that Chinese nuclear power plants have also been releasing into the ocean water containing tritium at levels up to 6.5 times higher than the annual amount scheduled to be released from Fukushima.

According to a document compiled by the Japanese government, for example, water containing about 143 trillion becquerels of tritium was released from Qinshan III nuclear power plant in China's Zhejiang Province in 2020.

In 2021, water containing about 112 trillion becquerels was also released from Guangdong Province's Yangjiang plant, while 102 trillion becquerels were released from the Ningde Nuclear Power Plant in Fujian Province.

In the United States, the National Resources Defense Council said that there are 65 locations across the country, where commercial nuclear power plants are or have been recently operating, and these locations "operation produces tritium as a byproduct."

A 2016 US Nuclear Regulatory Commission report indicated that 46 US sites have had history of leaks or spills that involved tritium in excess of the standard 20,000 picocuries per liter.

In March 2023 alone, regulators from the US state of Minnesota reported that 400,000 gallons of radioactive water containing tritium leaked from the Xcel Energy's Monticello nuclear power plant.

But as some environment defenders point out, Japan cannot justify its own behaviour on the nuclear wastewater issue by pointing at other countries' own shortcomings.