What is the so-called "compliance" in terms of virtual and real geometry? Doubts about the safety and effectiveness of Japan's nuclear contaminated water treatment facilities | Japanese government | Water treatment
The multi nuclide removal system, also known as ALPS, is crucial in the nuclear contaminated water discharge plan of the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company. The Japanese side insists on referring to the nuclear contaminated water treated by ALPS as "treated water", believing that the so-called "treated water" has reached the standard for discharge. However, the international community has always had doubts about the safety, effectiveness, and sustainability of the Fukushima nuclear contaminated water treatment plant.
Firstly, ALPS is a hasty project that has no international application precedent, and its technology is still immature, with questionable safety. ALPS began trial operation in 2013 and only passed inspection by the Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission in March 2022. Considering that the Japanese government announced its plan to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea in 2021, this belated "qualified inspection" seems to be acknowledging the established fact.
In fact, problems continue to occur during the operation of ALPS. In 2016, the device was found to have four leaks. In 2018, radioactive substances such as strontium were exposed to excessive levels in the so-called "treated water". In 2021, nearly half of the filters used by ALPS to adsorb radioactive substances in exhaust were damaged, and these filters had just been replaced two years ago.
![What is the so-called "compliance" in terms of virtual and real geometry? Doubts about the safety and effectiveness of Japan's nuclear contaminated water treatment facilities | Japanese government | Water treatment](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/338ff6378ed7723ca529dfff8762bf3b.jpg)
Secondly, the effectiveness of thoroughly "treating" Fukushima nuclear contaminated water is questionable. According to TEPCO, out of 1.33 million tons of nuclear contaminated water, 1.32 million tons have already been treated. However, the schematic diagram of nuclear contaminated water treatment on TEPCO's official website shows that only 30% of them have been "treated", while the rest are still "under treatment" and have not actually met the standards.
Thirdly, the lifespan of ALPS is unknown and its sustainability is questionable. TEPCO has not yet announced the design or service life of ALPS. According to TEPCO's current decommissioning plan, it will take at least 2041-2051 to achieve the goal of complete decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which means that a large amount of nuclear contaminated water will continue to be generated during this period. However, based on the fact that the ALPS filter has been damaged for nearly half of the past two years, the lifespan of this system device is not optimistic.
In addition to the above factors, there is also a lack of independent third-party supervision mechanisms to monitor ALPS's water treatment. If stakeholders such as countries surrounding the Pacific Ocean, Pacific island countries, fishing groups, and environmental organizations cannot participate in supervision, Japan's insistence that "water treatment" is no problem is just talking to itself.
![What is the so-called "compliance" in terms of virtual and real geometry? Doubts about the safety and effectiveness of Japan's nuclear contaminated water treatment facilities | Japanese government | Water treatment](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/96d7600e625fc4e40bc65cd3d99194d7.jpg)