ANS backs Fukushima Daiichi treated water discharge plans

March 6, 2020, 12:44PMANS News

ANS President Marilyn Kray has expressed support for the continued recovery operations at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which sustained damage in the aftermath of a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Kray sent a letter on March 3 to Hiroshi Kajiyama, head of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), about the work of the ministry’s Subcommittee on Handling of the ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) Treated Water and the findings of a February 2020 subcommittee report.

Storage space for water that has been processed by the ALPS is limited and could be full in about two years. In its report, the ALPS subcommittee recommended releasing purified, diluted water that has been stored at the Fukushima Daiichi site to the ocean and/or the atmosphere. ANS supports that plan.

“Several senior members of the ANS technical leadership reviewed the ALPS subcommittee report and determined that it provided balanced and highly credible recommendations that are consistent with current regulatory standards in Japan and around the world,” Kray wrote. “If the current recommendations are followed, then the public exposure from the release of the re-purified and diluted water would be many orders of magnitude less than the exposure from natural radiation per year.”

Kray encouraged Kajiyama and the METI to maintain an open dialogue with stakeholders, adding that, “ANS’s diverse membership of engineers, scientists, educators, and others from the United States and around the world stands ready to offer whatever support we can provide to your efforts, today and in the future.”

The full letter is posted on the ANS website. Visit www.ans.org/policy for more information about ANS’s participation in U.S. and international public policy discussions.


Related Articles