Storage tanks for contaminated water stand at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. Photo / AP
Storage tanks for contaminated water stand at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. Photo / AP
On the site of Japan's nuclear disaster, 10 years on from the meltdown that changed the world forever, authorities are grappling with impossible choices.
Tomorrow marks a decade since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Towns surrounding the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi plant have long since been abandoned but the fallout from the March 11, 2011 event is far from over.
Every single day, 100 tonnes of groundwater seeps into one of the broken reactor basements at the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
That's a problem, because the water is mixing with radioactive debris and needs to be treated and stored. But TEPCO has more than 1.2 million tonnes of contaminated water sitting in storage tanks that are very quickly running out of capacity.
Estimates suggest the tanks will reach overflow point next year. And one of the choices on the table for Japanese authorities is hugely unpopular and potentially devastating: Release more than 1 million tonnes of the treated radioactive water into the sea.
Bags containing radioactive soil, chopped down tree branches and other debris at a temporary storage area in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture. Photo / AP
According to a report in the Japan Times newspaper, fishing industry insiders are convinced that efforts made over 10 years to recover from the damage caused by radioactive waste leaking into the sea will be completely undone.
Fishing resumed in 2012, with hopes of a return to the boom of pre-2011 where annual fish sales topped ¥18.7 billion ($240 million). But convincing the public to buy local fish is an ongoing, unwinnable fight.
"We at the fisheries co-operative in Fukushima are all in agreement in our strong opposition to the release of contaminated water," said Takashi Niitsuma, managing director of the fisheries association in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
It is not the only problem that needs solving. There is a far more dangerous situation unfolding in several of the plant's damaged reactors.
An abandoned business office in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. Photo / AP
According to local reports, there is still 900 tonnes of melted reactor debris inside three reactors that experienced meltowns. The plan to extract it was described by the Times as "near-impossible" because "the radioactivity remains extremely high near the reactor containment vessels — enough to instantly kill a human and to disable a robot."
The plan is to decommission the plant by 2051.
Pictures from abandoned properties in the original exclusion zone show weeds growing around homes that were vacated in a hurry.
The earthquake, tsunami and triple nuclear meltdown led to the deaths of almost 16,000 people and was one of the most powerful natural disasters on record.
Waves up to 40m high travelled 700km/h and smashed into the coast, where they surged for a further 10km inland, destroying towns and swallowing villages.
