FAQ
About ALPS treated water, tritium, and monitoring
Currently about 70% of the water stored in the tanks contains radioactive materials other than
tritium, at concentrations in excess of regulatory levels. This is the result of actions taken to
quickly minimize the impact of radiation on surrounding communities. As such, priority was given to
water treatment processes that maximized processing quantities.
Before being discharged, the water will be retreated until the concentrations of the other
radioactive materials are reduced to below regulatory clearance levels. While tritium will remain in
the water, it will be diluted to concentrations below clearance levels once the water is discharged
into the ocean. In a similar way, the other materials already within clearance-level concentrations
will be diluted to lower concentrations still, which in turn offers additional peace of mind.
*In September 2020, TEPCO conducted an experiment to evaluate the performance of ALPS secondary treatment. Results confirmed that the concentrations of radioactive materials could be reduced, and that the sum of the concentration ratios for all radionuclides (excluding tritium) could be brought to below 1 through secondary treatment. (The sum of the concentration ratios for 62 radionuclides and carbon-14 based on tests conducted on the J1-C tank group: before secondary treatment = 2,406; after secondary treatment = 0.35.)
About ALPS treated water, tritium, and monitoring
- QWhat is ALPS-treated water? How is it different to contaminated water?
- QWhy is it necessary to discharge ALPS-treated water? Can't it continue to be stored?
- QIf ALPS-treated water is safe, why is it being stored? Surely it is only being stored because it is unsafe.
- QIs there a chance of ALPS-treated water containing other radioactive substances in addition to tritium?
- QWhat is tritium?
- QIf tritium is a radioactive substance, is it not dangerous?
- QDoes tritium become concentrated in fish? And will eating fish be dangerous?
- QWhat kind of monitoring is implemented when discharging the ALPS treated water into the sea?
- QWhen discharging ALPS treated water into the sea, what will happen if the monitoring of the local sea area indicates that the discharged water hasn't sufficiently dispersed and so on?