Japanese People Demand Government to Uphold Promise on Nuclear-Contaminated Water Disposal

Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, August 18th Summary: Japanese people gather to demand the government abide by the promise not to dispose of nuclear-contaminated water without authorization

Xinhua News Agency reporter

In the past few days, Japanese people have gathered to demand that the government abide by the original promise not to dispose of nuclear-contaminated water without authorization, withdraw the plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, continue to store nuclear-contaminated water on land or adopt other alternatives.

On August 18, a citizen protested against the plan to discharge Fukushima nuclear contaminated water in front of the Prime Minister’s residence in Tokyo, Japan. On the same day, people from all over Japan gathered in front of the prime minister’s residence in Tokyo to protest against the plan to discharge Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea. After the rally, the people went to the Senate together to submit a petition to the government and Tokyo Electric Power Company.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu

On the 18th, although the temperature in Tokyo exceeded 35 degrees Celsius, people from all over Japan gathered in front of the prime minister’s official residence despite the scorching heat.

Ryoko Uno, who came from Kyoto, originally lived in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture. After the “3.11” earthquake, she moved to Kyoto for refuge. She told reporters that since she learned that nuclear-contaminated water containing radioactive substances had leaked, she began to worry about the issue of nuclear-contaminated water treatment. She said that local governments in many places in Japan and people at home and abroad have expressed opposition. Against this background, it is very inappropriate for the Japanese government to unilaterally decide to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea. She hopes to store nuclear pollution on land for a long time. water scheme.

On August 18, citizens gathered in front of the official residence of the Prime Minister in Tokyo, Japan, to protest against the plan to discharge Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu

Sato Kazuyoshi, one of the representatives of the non-governmental organization “Don’t pollute the ocean again! Citizens’ Meeting”, said that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company agreed in a document with the Federation of Fukushima Prefecture Fisheries Cooperation Associations in 2015 that “if the understanding of relevant parties is not obtained, it will not ( carry out any disposal of nuclear-contaminated water), and cannot break the contract. He said that the local fishery in Fukushima has just recovered to about 20% of what it was before the nuclear accident. At this time, the nuclear contaminated water is discharged into the sea, and the fishermen’s livelihood will be difficult to sustain.

On the same day, the people at the rally also went to the Members’ Hall of the Japanese Senate and submitted a petition to representatives of the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company, requesting the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company to abide by the agreement in 2015, withdraw the plan to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea, and take thorough measures to block the nuclear pollution. Groundwater flows into the nuclear power plant, blocking the source of the increase in nuclear contaminated water, and re-discussing alternative treatment options such as long-term storage of large water tanks and mortar curing.

Tomoko Abe, member of the Japanese House of Representatives, was originally a pediatrician. She said that the management of radioactive materials has always followed the principles of non-proliferation and centralized storage as much as possible. “It’s definitely not that the ocean is really vast and vast, so it’s okay to discharge it. What’s more, the high seas are everyone’s ocean. Why can you throw your own garbage into other people’s yards? That alone is immoral.”

On August 18, citizens gathered in front of the official residence of the Prime Minister in Tokyo, Japan, to protest against the plan to discharge Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu

On the 17th, non-governmental organizations such as Friends of the Earth Japan and the Atomic Energy Information Office submitted more than 28,000 public signatures to representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, requesting the Japanese government to withdraw its plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea and continue to store it on land or take other measures. alternative plan.

When submitting their signatures, the representative of the organizer said that besides tritium, the nuclear-contaminated water stored in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant also contained a variety of other radioactive substances, and the total amount of them had not been made public. Fisheries practitioners and other people at home and abroad are deeply worried about the plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea. Centralized management is the principle for dealing with radioactive material, and land storage or other alternatives are possible.

In January this year, the Japanese government set the time for the discharge of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water as “this spring and summer”. Japanese media have generally predicted recently that after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits the United States and returns to China, he will hold a meeting of relevant cabinet members to determine the specific discharge date, and the discharge may start at the end of this month or early September.

[Responsible editor: Dong Jing]

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2023-08-18 14:27:00