The official Japanese government has finally confirmed just recently that it will eventually be dumping the radioactive water that has been stored at the site of the popular Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant became worldwide news back in March 11, 2011 when a great earthquake and tsunami hit Japan resulting in a number of accidents at the known Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant damage

According to the NCBI, there was flooding all over the critical plant equipment which then resulted in the loss of both AC and DC power on site. This meant that the reactor monitoring, cooling functions, control, and other necessary functions were unable to perform.

It was reported that three different reactors then sustained serious core damage, three reactor buildings were also damaged by heavy hydrogen explosions, and radioactive materials then contaminated the land over in Fukushima as well as a number of neighboring prefectures.

The accident then resulted in a widespread evacuation of the local population as well as the distress to the country, huge economic losses, and also the eventual shutdown of every single nuclear plant that was located in Japan.

The decision will begin 2 years later in 2022

According to an article by Futurism, the Friday announcement actually comes after a couple of years of debate regarding how to manage the stored contaminated water that was accumulated at the plant’s site, which was memorably destroyed back in 2011 by a tsunami that went straight into a meltdown.

The known dumping will most likely take place later on in 2022, according to Agence France-Presse reports. This will be right around the time when the plant’s very own water tanks should then reach its maximum capacity and actually then overflow on their own.

It was also noted in the article that there are actually other viable options that could be followed, like continuing to construct storage tanks for the said water as well as holding it well until the water is said to become “less radioactive”.

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How the process will reportedly happen

According to the Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato’s statement at a particular press conference that was reported by the AFP, they cannot postpone the decision with regards to how to deal with the “processed water”. It was said that they do not want to prevent delays in another plan for the decommission work of the known Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

With this said, AFP reports that the whole dumping process could actually take a couple of decades. Experts have also warned that the known water is “too dangerous” to actually drop straight into the sea, so it will then be diluted with clean seawater just before it’s disposal.

The process is said to take 30 years as the water will continue to be thoroughly filtered, diluted, then gradually released. Officials say this process is sufficient to actually bring the water down to a “safe level of radioactivity.”