The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (north-eastern Japan) announced on Friday that it had suspended “as a precaution” its process of releasing treated water from the site into the sea, after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck nearby. This process should resume later this Friday, a spokesperson for Tepco, the operator of the plant, then told Agence France-Presse.
On February 28, Tepco began a new operation to discharge into the Pacific Ocean water stored on the plant site, previously treated to eliminate most of its radioactive substances, with the exception of tritium, which is not dangerous only in high concentrated doses. This fourth phase of discharge at sea since last summer was due to end this Sunday, according to the initial schedule.
Earthquake at midnight
After the earthquake that occurred on Friday at 12:14 a.m. Japanese time (Thursday 4:14 p.m. in Paris) off the coast of the Fukushima department, which did not cause a tsunami, “we were able to confirm remotely that there were no anomalies” on facilities to dilute tritiated water and discharge it into the ocean, Tepco said on the social network. But “As a precaution, we have suspended operations of these facilities, in accordance with predefined operational protocols”added Tepco.
Shortly after the earthquake, the Japanese Nuclear Safety Authority (NRA) also indicated on its website that no anomaly had been identified at the nuclear installations in Fukushima.
Located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant was devastated in 2011 by a gigantic tsunami caused by a magnitude 9.0 underwater earthquake off the coast of Fukushima. This power plant is now being dismantled, a colossal and extremely complex project which is expected to last several decades.
Beijing in particular has strongly criticized the discharge of treated water from the plant into the sea, although this process has been validated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). China responded by suspending all imports of Japanese seafood since last summer, and was followed by Russia a few months later.