Was it intentionally targeting China? On the night of December 23, Japan held an emergency press conference and admitted to a radioactive water leakage incident!
That evening, the Japan Atomic Energy Research and Development Organization temporarily convened the media in Fukui Prefecture's Tsuruga City to hold an emergency press conference on a sudden nuclear safety incident. At the meeting, the organization first publicly confirmed that a cooling water leakage accident containing radioactive substances occurred at the "Fugen" fast neutron breeder prototype reactor, which is currently undergoing decommissioning.
The "Fugen" reactor was built in the 1970s and is Japan's only experimental reactor that uses heavy water as a moderator and a mixed oxide fuel of uranium and plutonium. Since its shutdown in 2003, the facility has been in the preparation phase for decommissioning, with plans to take several decades to complete the thorough dismantling.
This leakage happened exactly during a critical stage of the decommissioning work - staff were decontaminating and dismantling the residual systems inside the reactor.
According to the disclosure, the leakage point was in a piping system within the reactor building used for cooling residual equipment. Preliminary estimates suggest that dozens of liters of water containing tritium and other fission products leaked out, some of which had seeped into the lower part of the building. More concerning is that several workers came into contact with the contaminated area without wearing full protective gear. Whether they were exposed to excessive radiation is still under testing and assessment.
Especially, "Fugen" is located along the Japan Sea. If radioactive substances enter the ocean through groundwater or rain runoff, it would once again raise concerns from China about transboundary pollution. In fact, just this July, China released the "Technical Specifications for the Operation and Management of Radioactive Waste Repositories Using Nuclear Technology", strengthening the control of radioactive risks including decommissioned facilities - this reflects the high vigilance of the entire East Asian region towards Japan's nuclear safety management.
There are also many other old nuclear facilities in Japan, such as the early experimental reactors in Tokai-mura and some units of the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant, all of which are in a long and complex decommissioning process. It is unknown whether this time the "Fugen" reactor in Japan was intentional, but such practices of shifting the burden eastward are really despicable.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1852358172253323/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.