One million tonnes of radioactive waste water will be released into the Pacific Ocean from a nuclear power plant in the large city of Fukushima in northeastern Japan on Thursday.
This is reported by a number of international media, including The Guardian and Danish EkstraBladet.
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The plan has become the subject of debate because the water contains tritium, a radioactive substance that cannot be removed through the plant’s water filtration technology.
Green light
Japan already decided two years ago that the waste should be dumped in the sea, and in the meantime the country has received severe criticism from several quarters for using the Pacific Ocean as its “private sewage system”.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, gave the green light to the implementation a few weeks ago.
They emphasize, among other things, that the potential damage such a discharge could cause to the environment, respectively to people and animals, would be of an “insignificant” nature.
Nuclear expert at the University of Adelaide, Tony Hooker, also sheds light on this claim.
– Tritium has been released by nuclear power plants for several decades without demonstrable harmful environmental or health effects, he tells The Guardian.
– Wrong solution
Nevertheless, the upcoming discharge has not been allowed to go unnoticed. Both trading partners and environmental organizations believe, by extension, that there will be consequences in several areas.
– Japan’s government has chosen the wrong solution for a long time; namely decades of pollution of the marine environment at a time when the world’s oceans are already facing a lot of pressure and stress, claims Shaun Burnie at Greenpeace in East Asia.
PROTESTING: Several South Koreans took to the streets to protest the Japanese plans. Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP Show more
Hong Kong, an important market for Japan’s fish exports, has also threatened restrictions.
Demonstrating
Local fishermen are said to have also objected to the plans, which they fear could destroy the fishing industry in the area – where they claim that it could be harmful to pump the water into the fishing boats.
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In South Korea, too, people have shown disgust at the plans. Several protesters have taken to the streets in recent days to show their dissatisfaction with the decision in Tokyo.
According to AP several hundred South Koreans are said to have participated in a demonstration on Tuesday 22 August.
2023-08-22 21:54:00
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