The Japanese government has decided to release the contaminated water used to cool the reactors damaged by the Fukushima nuclear accident into the Pacific Ocean.
This was announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, confirming the anticipations of the eve and despite the clear opposition of public opinion, the fishing industry and representatives of local agriculture. Suga met with executive members, including Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama, to formalize the decision, which comes exactly 10 years after the March 2011 catastrophe. The South Korean Foreign Ministry has summoned Japanese Ambassador Koichi Aiboshifiling a formal protest after Koo Yun Cheol, minister for government policy coordination, said Seoul “strongly opposes” the release into the sea of ​​more than 1.25 million tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Tokyo “releases radioactive water after diluting it to levels not harmful to humans. But dilution will not change the total amount of radioactivity lost,” an alliance of 31 anti-nuclear and pro-environment civic groups denounced in Seoul. China has urged Japan not to release the radioactive water into the seatreated and accumulated over 10 years in the plant “without authorization” from other countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Aiea). “China reserves the right to give further responses” to Tokyo’s move, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. The US has shown sympathy for the Japanese plan, but Zhao has expressed skepticism about it, saying China believes Washington also “attaches importance to environmental issues.”
“We are aware of the decision taken by the government of Japan” to dump the radioactive waters of the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. A spokesman for the European Commission said this in response to a question from journalists.The Commission expects the Japanese authorities to guarantee full safety in the spill operation in full compliance with its national and international obligations – the spokesman added -. Full transparency in this type of operation is important. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep in touch with our Japanese counterparts. ” Greenpeace Japan strongly condemns the decision of the government led by Prime Minister Sugato have over 1.23 million tons of radioactive wastewater stored in tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant discharged into the Pacific Ocean. This is what is stated in a note from the organization. “This decision completely ignores the human rights and interests of the people of Fukushima and in general of Japan and the part of Asia bordering the Pacific,” argues Greenpeace. “The Japanese government has once again disappointed the citizens of Fukushima,” said Kazue Suzuki of Greenpeace Japan’s climate and energy campaign. “The government – he continues – has taken the totally unjustified decision to deliberately contaminate the Pacific Ocean with radioactive water. It has ignored both the risks associated with exposure to radiation and the evidence of sufficient availability of contaminated water storage at the nuclear site and surrounding districts. Instead of using the best existing technology to minimize the risks of radiation exposure by storing water for the long term and treating it properly to reduce contamination, it was decided to opt for the cheapest option, discharging the water into the Pacific Ocean. “Greenpeace, the note reads, and alongside the people of Fukushima, including the fishing communities, in their efforts to stop these plans.
The daily maintenance of the Fukushima Daiichi plant generates the equivalent of 140 tons of contaminated water, which – despite being treated in the reclamation plants, continues to contain tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Just over 1,000 tanks have accumulated in the area adjacent to the plant, the equivalent of 1.25 million tons of liquid, and according to the manager of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the tanks will reach the maximum capacity allowed. by the summer of 2022. Protests against the spillage of water in the sea have also been expressed in the past by neighboring countries, including China as well as South Korea. In February of last year, during a visit to the plant, the director of the International Agency for atomic energy (Aiea), Rafael Grossi, had admitted that the release of water into the Pacific Ocean would be in line with the international standards of the nuclear industry. The triple disaster at Fukushima was triggered by the magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which caused the nuclear fuel to overheat, followed by the melting of the core inside the reactors, which was accompanied by explosions of hydrogen and emissions of radiation.
