[단독] 1,600 times difference between KHNP and Ministry of Environment

As a tremendous amount of tritium was detected in the site of the Wolseong nuclear power plant, concerns are growing that the content of tritium from the drinking water of residents such as groundwater around the nuclear power plant is indeed safe.

In this process, unlike the safety standards for drinking water tritium (less than 10,000 becquerels/liter) that Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power is advocating, the drinking water quality standard of the Ministry of Environment (6 becquerels/liter based on salt groundwater) differs by about 2000 times. It was confirmed that it was set strictly. However, it is controversial that the Ministry of Environment’s quarantine authority and KHNP argue that it is only applicable to salt ground sewage and not to other drinking water such as tap water and spring water. KHNP did not present such standards by the Ministry of Environment when it produced explanatory data.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and some nuclear engineers are talking about 3.4 to 6 bananas and 1 gram of anchovies and caricature this problem. KHNP reported that the tritium concentration in the groundwater at Bonggil, Gyeongsangbuk-do in October last year was 4.80 becquerels/liter (Bq/L, becquerels per liter) in the explanatory data on the 8th and 11th, and the fluctuation range (2.83~9.05Bq/L) for 5 years It was a corresponding number. In particular, KHNP argued that it was insignificant compared to the WHO (World Health Organization) drinking water standard (10,000 Bq/L).

According to KHNP’s explanatory data, the maximum concentration of tritium in the body of residents around the Wolseong nuclear power plant surveyed from November 2018 to July last year was 16.3 Bq/L. KHNP said, “If this maximum concentration is maintained in the body for one year, an effective dose of 0.00034mSv is received, which is about 4/10 (0.034%) of the 1mSv legal dose limit for the general public.” “The maximum radiation dose from hydrogen is the same as eating about 3.4 bananas.”

In Korea, there is no limit on the content of radioactive substances such as tritium for tap water and spring water among drinking water, but it has been found that it is clearly limited to’salt groundwater’. In relation to Article 2 of the’Rules on Drinking Water Quality Standards and Inspection, etc.’ revised as of December 20, 2019,’Appendix 1 Drinking Water Quality Standards’ (Ordinance of the Ministry of Environment) Paragraph 6 radioactivity standards To “A. Cesium (Cs-137) should not exceed 4.0mBq/L, b. Strontium (Sr-90) should not exceed 3.0mBq/L. The tritium will not exceed 6.0Bq/L.” However, he said it only applies to salt groundwater. Salt groundwater is groundwater generated at the place where groundwater and seawater meet, and refers to groundwater in the bedrock aquifer containing more than 2000 mg/L of solids in it. This water must be able to maintain the safety of the water quality and is used as water that can be eaten in a natural state. It means that salted underground water is also used as drinking water. KHNP did not mention this standard of the Ministry of Environment in its explanatory data.

The groundwater tritium concentration at the Bonggil branch claimed by KHNP is 4.8 becquerels/liter, but the report on the radiation activity analysis results for the second to third quarters of last year measured by the civil environmental monitoring organization of the Wolseong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju city, in the case of Eupcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do in April last year. From June to June, it was measured that per liter of groundwater contained 7.51 to 8.94 ± 0.84 becquerels of tritium, and 8.85 ± 0.88 becquerels in July. If the standard is set to 6 becquerels instead of 10,000 becquerels, the tritium content of drinking water exceeds the standard. Even if this drinking water may be different from salt groundwater, if it meets these standards, can it be said to be safe?

If this standard is applied, it will be the most stringent country by comparison globally. According to the’Standards and Guidelines for Tritium in Drinking Water Part of the Tritium Studies’ written in 2008 by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, WHO says that the amount of tritium in drinking water is 10,000 becquerels per liter. Canada, the country of manufacture of the Wolsong nuclear power plant in Korea, has 7,000 becquerels, 7700 becquerels in Russia, 30,000 becquerels in Finland, and 76103 becquerels in Australia. In contrast, the United States has the lowest tritium per liter at 740 becquerels, and the EU has the lowest at 100. Then, what is the reason why Korea set the amount of tritium in the drinking water quality standard like this?

In addition, if you look at data from 20 years ago, there is a survey result that the concentration of tritium in drinking water is not high in the general environment of Korea. Researchers from the Atomic Energy Research Department of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, including Park Soon-Dal, wrote in the paper’The distribution of tritium in leachate from a landfill site in domestic waste’ in 2004, “According to the results of tritium measurement in Korea in 2001, rainwater 1.64~32.33 TU, drinking water 13.08. It shows the distribution of ～36.17 TU and seawater 0.86～3.08 TU”. Here, TU is equal to the size of 0.11 becquerel per liter, so it is equivalent to 1.3 to 3.6 becquerels of drinking water. It also means that the amount of tritium in our drinking water does not exceed 3.6 per liter.

Professor Park Jong-un of the Department of Nuclear Energy and Stem Engineering at Dongguk University said in a talk with the media today on the 15th, “KHNP has set up a WHO standard of 10,000 becquerels, but what is 6 becquerels/liter of tritium tritium from the Ministry of Environment?” Can you do it?” he pointed out. Prof. Park said, “The maximum concentration of tritium in drinking water in the general environment in 2004 was 16.3 Bq/L,” saying, “The maximum tritium concentration in the body of residents around the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant surveyed from November 2018 to July last year was 16.3 Bq/L. Compared to 3.6 becquerels/liter, the current tritium concentration in residents is up to 16.3 becquerels. It is 4.5 times higher,” he said. “This should be considered to prove that tritium leaked out of the site of the nuclear power plant.”

The Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment, who oversees the law, said in a call with Media Today on the afternoon of that day, “Only salt ground water is excluded, and tritium is not written in the drinking water quality standards.” “About tritium and drinking water, the impact and harm to the human body There is no data, so we have to investigate.” “There are various kinds of water to drink, but there are no standards for tap water and spring water, and there are no standards for drinking salt underground water,” said Lee. “The necessary parts should be discussed with KHNP.”

However, the National Institute of Environmental Sciences under the Ministry of Environment gave a somewhat vague explanation. In the afternoon of the 15th, a researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Sciences said, “This standard is not a standard that must be followed like the water quality standard for drinking water,” and “a condition that raw water (salt groundwater) must have to make it into drinking water.” The researcher said, “It is a characteristic of water that raw water must have, and in the case of the radioactive part, it is a clean standard that is much lower than that of foreign countries, so there is no need to remove it.” He said, “The source water is a regulation that only develops water in areas that are not affected by nuclear power plants,” he said. This is a standard that developers of deep sea water or clean water must follow. Then, when asked what would happen if the tritium content exceeds the standard value when the public is drinking the water in an area with salt groundwater, the researcher replied, “It is not a standard that can be explained in terms of risk.” He said salt groundwater was also known as the raw water before it was treated to make it edible. When asked,’Is it okay if tritium in the groundwater in the nuclear power plant exceeds this threshold?’, he said it didn’t matter. Then, on the point that this water quality standard has no meaning, he explained, “I will make a recommendation to the Ministry of Environment in the future so that there is no misunderstanding of this standard.”

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power clarified that the standards for salt ground water quality were not mentioned in the drinking water standard, and that the standards were for sale by companies. In a text message reply sent on the afternoon of the 15th, KHNP’s media and public relations team said, “Salt groundwater is water that drinking water developers draw from deep underground, such as mineral water and mineral water, and sell it to the public.” There are standards, and there is no standard for radioactive concentration in spring water/eating spring water/drinking groundwater.” According to this standard, when asked whether the amount of tritium in 7~9 becquerels per liter from drinking water in the Eupcheon area exceeded the standard, KHNP argued that “because it is a standard value for applying salt groundwater, it is not applied to the inquiry.

According to KHNP and the Ministry of Environment’s National Academy of Environmental Sciences, expensive water for sale is subject to a cleaner standard that contains nearly 2,000 times less tritium, and that ordinary people who cannot afford expensive water can eat water containing 2000 times more tritium. It is questionable whether it is a standard.

Copyright © Media Today, unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are prohibited.