Wastewater containing tritium discharged from Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is expected to reach Taiwan’s territorial waters in about four years, but as the concentration levels would be below the detection limit, there would be no radiation safety concern, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said yesterday.
In April 2021, 10 years after the earthquake and tsunami that wrecked the power plant, the Japanese government announced that it would release radioactive wastewater from the facility, treated using an advanced liquid processing system, into the Pacific Ocean.
An International Atomic Energy Agency task force last year carried out three comprehensive reviews on Tokyo Electric Power Co’s discharge plan, and its preliminary findings, released on Wednesday, said that the company has the technical competence to complete the operation, and its measurements of the treated water were accurate and precise.
Photo: AP
The Japanese government said that simulations showed no increase in radioactivity from the discharged water beyond 3km from the coast, the AEC said.
The radioactivity concentration is only about 1:10,000 to 1:100,000 of the background concentration level, and would be smaller as it is diluted by seawater, it said.
The wastewater would first flow toward the US with the Kuroshio Current and the North Equatorial Current, later returning to the Philippines, and moving north with the Kuroshio Current to Taiwan and Japan, an AEC official said.
It would reach Taiwan’s territorial waters at the end of the circulation, which would take about four years, and the tritium concentration level at that time would be below the instrument detection limit, he said.
As ocean currents are complex, a small portion of the wastewater might flow toward the south along with mesoscale eddies, reaching the seas near Taiwan in a year at the earliest, he added.
The AEC is to work with the Central Weather Bureau to establish a simulation model for the dispersion of radioactive substances in marine ecosystems, and provide a seven-day forecast of the dispersion and impact warning of tritium wastewater to the nearby sea area and fishing grounds after Tokyo Electric Power begins discharging the wastewater.
Regarding testing the levels of tritium in seafood, the AEC official said that the isotope emits weak radiation and can only travel about 5mm through the air, which can be blocked by a piece of paper, so it cannot be directly tested, requiring seafood samples to be delivered to special laboratories for treatment and analysis, which would take about 14 workdays.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source