Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has recently revealed its plan of dumping the radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima’s Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant based in Japan into a kilometer-long (0.6 miles) undersea tunnel in order to keep the contaminated water away from local fishers in the area.
What Made TEPCO Plan the Undersea Tunnel?
On April 13, Japan announced the plan to release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. This announcement made people rebel against the decision and the passive-aggressive reaction was processed by the neighboring countries and the local fishing communities which is one of the reasons why TEPCO plans the construction of an undersea tunnel.
Although the Ministry’s words on the issue were that the release is safe as the water will be completely treated removing all the radioactive elements before the discharge.
But, due to major opposition to this decision, no firm step is executed till now.
Also, TEPCO is now at such a stage where it needs to take some steps as till the next year the storage tanks will reach their capacity and start to overflow. Now if that happens, it will surely be a major problem. So the construction of the undersea tunnel is looked upon as a better way to dump the water by treating and diluting rather than letting it overflow.
When, how, and why will the tunnel be constructed?
According to TEPCO, the construction of the undersea tunnel will soon start by March 2022.
The tunnel will be 2.5 meters in diameter, stretching to the east into the Pacific. Around 0.6 miles in length, this tunnel will help to dump around 1.27 million tonnes of radioactive water 40 feet beneath the ocean, hence saving the environment to some extent.
These plans of dumping the radioactive water will be implemented after the completion of the study and approval by the authorities. This tunnel construction aims at dumping the water that would not flow back to the shores as said by the plant’s chief decommissioning officer, Akira Ono on Wednesday. Also, it will help to keep the contaminated water away from local fisheries in the area.
Why is the dumping of Fukushima’s radioactive water debatable?
The dumping of radioactive water has been a hot topic for debate for many years. It is because the water contains traces of the radioactive element Strontium-90 that is one of the hazardous radionuclides and hence is a matter of concern for majorly the local fishing communities and the wildlife prevailing in that area. But despite the opposition to the decision by the environmental advocates and others, there was no other way found for the dumping, but now the ray of hope seems to appear.
So this was all about the post. What do you guys think? Will this construction of an undersea tunnel prove beneficial or not?…..
Do tell us in the comment section below.
