The legacy of Fukushima

Regulatory standards

Sir, – Regarding “Twelve years on from Fukushima’s horror, fishermen still feel the effects”(World, March 14th), I would like to point out that the phrase “contaminated water” which is used in this article promotes a misunderstanding that water released exceeds regulatory standards and adversely affects humans and the environment.

Regarding the water that will be discharged into the sea, “ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water”, I would like to explain the factual situation as follows.

The government of Japan will never discharge “contaminated water” that exceeds regulatory standards.

The water to be discharged is “ALPS treated water” that has been sufficiently purified and will be further diluted.

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After the dilution, the concentration of tritium will be 1/40 of the regulatory standard and 1/7 of the WHO drinking water standard, and the concentration of radioactive materials other than tritium will be less than 1/100 of the regulatory standard.

These operations are being conducted under review by the International Atomic Energy Agency. – Yours, etc,

MARUYAMA NORIO,

Ambassador of Japan

to Ireland,

Dublin 4.