IAEA Review of Safety Aspects of Handling of ALPS Treated Water

Regarding the discharge of ALPS treated water, Government of Japan has requested assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to review its plan and activities for the discharge of ALPS treated water to ensure that the discharge can be conducted in a safe and transparent manner in conformity with the IAEA Safety Standards. The IAEA has accepted Japan’s request and conducted a technical review to ensure that the discharge of ALPS treated water over the coming decades is conducted in conformity with the IAEA Safety Standards. The technical review consists of multiple missions, and a progress report is to be published after each review mission. Before the discharge of ALPS treated water, a comprehensive report including conclusions of the review will be published.

The IAEA conducted the first review from February 14 to 18, 2022, and published a report summarizing the findings through the review on April 29. In relation to the safety of related facilities which is the main content of the implementation plan, it was recognized that an enormous amount of analysis was performed by TEPCO for the conduct of the safety assessment, the level of detail, its comprehensive approach, as well as the fact that a large number of potential single failure events were taken into consideration for the development of the design criteria for the discharge of ALPS treated water. Regarding the radiological impact assessment, it was acknowledged that a comprehensive and detailed analysis was conducted and it was also noted that the radiological impact on the public was expected to be very low and significantly below the level set by the Japanese regulatory body. The IAEA Task Force noted that a significant amount of work and analysis has been performed to discharge the ALPS treated water, but the results need to be clearly described in writing to demonstrate compliance with relevant requirements in the context of IAEA safety standards so that the details of the radiological impact assessment can be fully understood.

Considering the points raised by the Task Force in the IAEA review, TEPCO revised the implementation plan and the report of assessment of radiological impact on the public and the environment and further enhanced its content.

(Source) Prepared based on the following:

https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/0429_001.html

• Included in this reference material on March 31, 2023