Photo/Illutration Water storage tanks line the site of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in June 2021. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Nearly 60 percent of the mayors of 42 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures oppose the planned discharge of accumulated water from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

The survey covered 12 cities, towns and villages in Iwate Prefecture, and 15 each in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, located in coastal areas hit by the March 2011 tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake or where evacuation orders were issued after the nuclear accident.

Nine coastal municipalities in Ibaraki Prefecture were also surveyed, but no municipal leader objected to releasing the water into the ocean.

Under the plan, more than 1 million tons of contaminated water stored at the plant are expected to be treated, diluted and released into the ocean.

Although the treatment process cannot remove tritium, government officials and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the level will be well within safety standards.

Among all 51 mayors, 11 said they “fully” and 13 said they “somewhat” object to the water-discharge plan.

Two were “fully” and 13 were “somewhat” in support of the plan.

Thirteen did not give answers.

Asked why they objected, with multiple answers allowed, 20 mayors selected “a sufficient level of understanding has yet to be gained both in and outside Japan,” followed by 14 who chose “many in the fisheries industry oppose it.”

Yoshiaki Suda, mayor of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture, home to Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa nuclear power plant, picked both “object” and “support” answers to the question about the water-release plan. 

“The treated water would pose no safety problem, but promoting an understanding among fishermen and other residents of the prefecture has been insufficient,” Suda said.

Yuko Endo, mayor of Kawauchi in Fukushima Prefecture, said he is somewhat agreeable to the plan if local consent is gained first.

He said the continued storage of treated radioactive water in tanks on land would hinder reconstruction in Futaba and Okuma, towns that co-host the stricken nuclear plant.

“Unless careful explanations are offered thoroughly, the adoption of any disposal method would impose an excessive burden on Fukushima Prefecture,” Endo said.

The survey also found that 70 percent of the mayors in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were concerned about the prospects of recovery in their municipalities.

Asked to choose the biggest sources of their worries, with multiple answers allowed, 79 percent of them cited “the birthrate declining and the population aging further.”

(This article was written by Yukiko Sakamoto and Wataru Netsu.)

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