Report: Fukushima wastewater not clear of contaminants despite ALPS-treatment

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

The radioactive water being dumped into the Pacific Ocean from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant is not clear of harmful contaminants despite the Advanced Liquid Processing System treatment applied by Tokio Electric

Power, the UN Human Rights Council said.

As of this year, TEPCO has completed its 12th release since it began discharging ALPS-treated wastewater in 2023, amid protests from neighboring countries and environmental groups.

“While we recognize that the government of Japan has argued that the ALPS-treated water should not be considered contaminated, the information received raises utmost concerns on the inaptness of the ALPS processing system to properly remove all the contaminating substances from the treated water,” states the Special Rapporteur’s March 19 report released by the council on Monday.

“TEPCO’s own data confirms that ALPS-treated water contains multiple radionuclides, such as strontium-90, iodine-129 and carbon-14 and plutonium

 isotopes. In addition, it contains high concentrations of tritium, which is not

treated by ALPS,” states the report.

Warning that the impact of the water discharge may be worse than previously predicted, the council also disclosed that wastewater continues to accumulate, thus its release into the Pacific Ocean would take longer than Japan's 30-year target.

The council publicly released its official communication with the Japanese government, raising concerns over increased risks of radiation exposure and related health impacts, particularly for children and vulnerable populations in the Pacific, compounded by limited healthcare access.

The council criticized TEPCO for its failure to resolve the “fundamental

problem of ongoing accumulation of contaminated groundwater.”

TEPCO, according to the plan, would release 1.3 million tons of ALPS-treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean over 30 years. The council noted that the amount of water scheduled for discharge was based on the quantity stored

at the time.

However, the council added, the volume of contaminated water continues to 

increase through additional cooling water, rainwater and groundwater coming into contact with the reactor cores.

FSM President Wesley Simina's tour of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant highlighted his visit to Japan from March 14 to 20, 2025. Photo courtesy of FSMIS

Before the start of discharge on Aug. 23, 2023, the council said the storage tanks had over 1,350,000 cubic meters of contaminated water. TEPCO reported that more than 1,200,000 cubic meters have remained in the tanks as of  Dec.19, 2024, after 10 discharges.

“The latest data indicates an additional 53 cubic meters per day of newly contaminated water," the report said. "Over the course of one year, this would amount to an additional 19,345 cubic meters of highly contaminated water,

 which represents 30 percent of the total volume of water discharged from

 August 2023 to August 2024, totaling 62,631 cubic meters."

The council is concerned that in the coming decades, the amount of newly accumulated contaminated water could increase by several hundred thousand 

cubic meters. 

“TEPCO has yet to provide any assessment as to the management of this water," the council said. "Reportedly, TEPCO’s operations to release this towering volume of contaminated water will be terminated in 30 or 40 years. This timeframe appears unrealistic in light of available information."

The Fukushima nuclear power plant was crippled by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake

that jolted Japan on March 11, 2011, killing nearly 20,000 people and injuring thousands.  

The long-term discharge of radioactive water into the sea is part of the decommissioning of the disabled power plant.

The Japanese government and TEPCO had 

promised to address the water contamination issue by 2020.

"Thirteen years past the disaster and four years past the abovementioned target date, this issue

 has not been sustainably resolved,” the council said. “Moreover, the solution that was chosen, namely the release of contaminated water into the marine environment, may entail grave risks to the enjoyment of human rights of concerned

populations within and beyond the borders.”

The council launched an investigation into the Fukushima water release following a complaint filed in August 2023 by Ocean Vision Legal on behalf of the Pacific Network on Globalization and backed by more than 50 civil organizations from the Pacific.

The Special Rapporteur’s report said the 2021 Radiological Environmental

Impact Assessment conducted by TEPCO shows several "alarming deficiencies and inaccuracies."

Unlike the current ocean models, which call for a seven-year evaluation, the report noted that TEPCO assessed meteorological and sea conditions over a 

shorter period, from 2014 to 2019, taking into account only the normal weather conditions.

TEPCO failed to consider the potential impact of "exceptional" meteorological

events, such as storms, the report said.

The report also pointed out that the impact assessment was based on the assumption that radionuclide values reach equilibrium in bottom sediments.

“However, levels of the non-tritium radionuclides, which are 1000’s (137Cs) to > 300,000 (60Co) times more likely to accumulate on the seafloor, would continue to increase over time with a continuous source," the report said.

"This would lead to an increasing uptake by demersal fish and benthic dwelling shellfish, therefore affecting the food chain and endangering consumers."

The council also found that TEPCO did not address the genetic damage to marine organisms and human consumption of these organisms.

“Hence, it lacks any assessment of mutation, health and cancer-related risks. In addition, acceptable limits to exposure to ionizing radiation are generally calculated on the basis of a standard adult man, without taking into account the

 higher susceptibility to cancer of children, given their smaller body size,” the council said.

Japan went ahead with its wastewater discharge plan after getting the nod from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which concluded that the water 

release into the sea “would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”

The human rights council, however, was skeptical of the agency's July 2023 report, saying its conclusion was based exclusively on safety standards that

“appear outdated" and failed to "keep track of the latest developments with respect to multiomics and DNA analyses to determine sublethal, cellular-level damage to the ocean and human life."

The IAEA report, the council said, "does not appear suitable to provide a sound scientific endorsement of the discharge.”

The council added that no assessment was made on how the wastewater release would affect those who have already experienced adverse health impacts from the Fukushima disaster.

“Rates of cancer among those living in the prefecture at the time of the disaster are substantially higher than the national average,” the council said. 

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