水墓--日本對福島核廢水的答案：入海

 

Watery grave 水墓

Japan’s answer to Fukushima’s nuclear wastewater: Get in the sea 日本對福島核廢水的答案：入海

It will be treated before being released. But locals are sceptical

廢水釋放前將被處理，但當地人仍心存疑慮

Asia

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Apr 13th 2021

TOKYO

LESS THAN an hour after north-eastern Japan was rocked by the biggest earthquake in the country’s history, in 2011, a towering tsunami crashed into the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant and triggered a triple reactor meltdown. In the decade since the disaster, water has continued to flow through the wreckage. Some 1.25m tonnes of liquid now sits in storage tanks near the reactors (pictured). But authorities are running out of space to put the stuff. On Tuesday the Japanese government announced it would release the wastewater into the ocean after treating it to remove most radioactive elements.

2011年，日本東北史上最大地震搖晃後不到一小時，一場排天倒海的海嘯摧毀福島第一核電廠，並引發1-3號機核反應爐熔毀。大災難後十年來，水繼續流過殘骸。約125萬公噸的液體現在置於核反應爐附近的儲槽中（如圖所示）。但是當局用光放置這些物品的空間。.日本政府周二宣布將把廢水排入海洋，排放前會經過處理，去除大部分放射性元素。

The decision was no less controversial for having long been expected. Debates about what to do with the water have raged for years. The government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant’s operator, insist the plan is safe and meets international standards for releasing wastewater at nuclear power plants. The discharges will begin only two years from now, subject to further approval by Japan’s nuclear regulator. Besides, it will be a gradual release over the course of several decades. Nonetheless, local fishermen, several neighbouring countries and many environmental activists remain fiercely opposed.

這個決定早在預料之中，爭議性卻沒有因此而減少。關於如何處理這些廢水已爭論多年。政府與電廠營運商東京電力公司（TEPCO）堅稱計劃是安全的，並且符合核電廠排放廢水的國際標準。核廢水排放兩年後才會展開，仍須日本核監管機關進一步批准，而且會分幾十年逐步釋出。儘管如此，當地漁民、眾多鄰國和許多環保運動人士仍然強烈反對。

The waters are a mixture of fluids used to cool the cores of the damaged reactors, as well as ground and rainwater that constantly flow through the plant. TEPCO has tried in vain to stop the accumulation, even attempting to construct an underground ice wall to prevent water from seeping into the plant. Yet the water continues to build up at a rate of 170 tonnes per day, complicating the already devilish decommissioning process.

這些水是用來冷卻受損核反應爐芯的液體混合物，以及不斷流經電廠的地下水和雨水。TEPCO嘗試阻止廢水蓄積，但徒勞無功，甚至想過要建造地下冰牆以防止水滲入（核電）廠內。然而，水繼續以每天170噸的速度蓄積，使得已很困難的退役過程變得複雜。

Before releasing any of the water into the ocean, TEPCO says it will be filtered with a treatment system designed to remove all but trace amounts of dangerous radionuclides. But it cannot separate tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that experts consider harmless in small amounts. The tritium-tainted water will be diluted with seawater until the concentrations fall below internationally-accepted limits. Both America, Japan's most important ally, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have endorsed the approach. “The method Japan has chosen is both technically feasible and in line with international practice,” said the IAEA’s director, Rafael Mariano Grossi.

東京電力公司表示，任何水排入海之前，將用處理系統過濾，危險的放射性元素將去除殆盡。但是它不能分離出氫的放射性同位素--氚，專家認為少量無害。 受氚污染的水將用海水稀釋，直到濃度降至國際公認的最低限值以下。日本最重要的盟友美國和國際原子能機構（IAEA）都贊同此方法。國際原子能機構總幹事格羅西說：「日本選擇的方法在技術上可行，且符合國際慣例。」

That is not enough to reassure sceptics. Local fishermen who have struggled to rebuild their businesses after the disaster worry that it will further taint the reputation of their catch. “No one is convinced or can understand it,” the head of one local fishery co-operative said on Monday as word leaked out of the impending announcement. The governments of South Korea, China and Taiwan have all raised safety concerns. Environmental activists accuse the Japanese authorities of playing down the radiation risks and ignoring other possible solutions, such as building additional storage tanks elsewhere. Greenpeace, a pressure group, argues that the Japanese government merely “opted for the cheapest option”.

這不足以消除疑慮。災難後苦苦掙扎重建業務的當地漁民擔心，這將進一步汙染漁獲物的聲譽。在周一即將宣布的訊息走漏風聲後，的當地漁業合作社的負責人說：「沒人信服或可以理解它。」南韓、中國和台灣的政府都提出對安全的憂心。環保運動人士指責日本當局低估輻射風險，無視其他可能的解決方案，例如在其他地方建造更多的儲罐。施壓團體綠色和平組織主張，日本政府只是「選擇最便宜的方案」。

The scepticism reflects another of the disaster’s legacies: an enduring mistrust of experts and official institutions. It is not entirely unfounded. In 2018, after years of insisting that the water in storage had already been filtered to contain only tritium, TEPCO admitted that much of it had not been treated properly and still contained other, dangerous, isotopes. Roughly 70% of the accumulated water needs to be re-treated before it can be discharged. Releasing the water may make it easier to rebuild the Fukushima area, but it will do little to help restore trust.

這些懷疑反映核災的另一個遺毒：對專家和官方機構的長期不信任。這並非毫無根據。在多年堅持儲槽的水過濾後僅含有氚之後，TEPCO在2018年承認，其中許多水未經妥善處理，仍然含有其他危險的同位素。大約70％的儲水需要重新處理才能排出。排放廢水可能使重建福島地區變得更容易，但對重拾信任的幫助卻微乎其微。