Press Releases
Publication of the 4th Report on IAEA’s Review of Safety Related Aspects of Handling ALPS Treated Water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
On April 5, 2023, the IAEA published a report on its Second Review Mission of Safety Aspects of Handling ALPS treated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) which was conducted in November 2022, based on the Terms of Reference (TOR) on Review of Safety Aspects of Handling ALPS Treated Water at TEPCO’s FDNPS which was signed in July 2021.
- The report published this time describes the characterization of discharge and source term, the safety related aspects of systems and processes for controlling discharges, the radiological environmental impact assessment, the regulatory control and authorization of discharges, the source and environmental monitoring programmes etc. The IAEA published three other reports on the safety and regulatory reviews, and the IAEA activities for data corroboration regarding monitoring and others in 2022.
- The Government of Japan will continue to provide necessary information to the IAEA. The Government of Japan also remains committed to making efforts to promote better understanding in the international community regarding the handling of ALPS treated water.
[Reference 1] ALPS treated water is water which is processed by devices such as ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) to ensure that the concentration of the radioactive materials other than tritium surely meet the regulatory standards for safety. In addition, it is planned that ALPS treated water will then be sufficiently diluted before the discharges into the sea so that concentration of all radioactive materials including tritium will be far below the regulatory standards for safety.
[Reference 2] Reports on IAEA Review of Safety Related Aspects of Handling of ALPS Treated Water
- (1) The 1st report (PDF)
published on April 29th, 2022, describes the details of IAEA’s review mission to METI and TEPCO conducted in February, related to eight different technical areas, including the characterization of discharge and source term, the safety-related aspects of system and processes for controlling discharges, and the radiological environmental impact assessment. - (2) The 2nd report (PDF) published on June 16th, 2022, describes the details of IAEA’s review mission to the Nuclear Regulation Authority conducted in March, related to five technical topics, including the responsibilities and functions of the government, major principles and safety objectives, and authorization process.
- (3) The 3rd report (PDF) published on December 29, 2022, describes the IAEA’s planned activities for the analysis and data corroboration of source monitoring of the ALPS treated water, environmental monitoring, and occupational radiation protection for workers at the FDNPS.