00:00 Japan has begun discharging more than 1 million tons of tainted water into the Pacific Ocean
00:06 from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a move that has sparked protests
00:10 and import bans from China and Hong Kong and anger in nearby fishing communities.
00:16 The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, pumped a small quantity of water from the
00:20 plant two days after the plant was approved by Japan's government.
00:24 The operator said it has not identified any abnormalities with the seawater pump or surrounding
00:30 facilities.
00:31 The discharge, which is expected to take 30 to 40 years, has caused anger in neighbouring
00:36 countries and concern among fishers that it will destroy their industry as consumers steer
00:41 clear of seafood caught in and around Fukushima.
00:45 The whole issue starts and revolves around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
00:49 located in Japan.
00:50 The devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami had damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant's
00:55 power supply and cooling systems, causing the reactor cores to overheat and contaminate
01:00 water within the plant with highly radioactive materials.
01:03 Since the disaster, the Japanese power plant company, TEPCO, has been pumping in water
01:08 to cool down the Fukushima nuclear reactor's fuel rods.
01:13 This means that every day the plant produces contaminated water, which is stored in massive
01:18 tanks.
01:19 More than 1,000 tanks have been filled so far around the nuclear power station and they
01:23 will reach their capacity in early 2024.
01:27 Japan says that storing the radioactive wastewater in tanks is not a sustainable long-term solution.
01:33 Over 1.3 million tonnes of water, which is enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming
01:38 pools, has built up at the plant's site.
01:41 At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater
01:46 that now needs to be stored and treated.
01:50 Much of the concern has centred on the presence of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen
01:55 which is hard to remove from water.
01:57 Not just tritium, the wastewater also contains carbon-14, iodine-131, cesium-137, strontium-90
02:05 and cobalt-60.
02:07 Some of these compounds take more than 1,000 years to decay completely.
02:12 Not only do these compounds take a longer time to disappear, but they're also hazardous
02:17 to living beings.
02:18 Tritium and carbon-14 are radioactive forms of hydrogen and carbon and they are very difficult
02:23 to separate from water.
02:25 There is currently no technology available to separate them from water.
02:29 Although both emit very low levels of radiation, but can certainly pose a grave risk if consumed
02:35 in large quantities.
02:37 Japan's government says that the final level of tritium, which is about 1,500 bequerels
02:41 per litre, is much safer than the level required by regulators for safe nuclear waste discharge
02:47 and so there is no problem at all.
03:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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