Should We be Wary of the Planned Dumping of Fukushima Nuke Waste Water into the Pacific Ocean?
稿件来源:菲律賓商報
2023年07月25日 14:34
It can be recalled that in the Spring or Summer of 2021, Japan alarmingly announced that it would release around 1.3 million tons of contaminated water or wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. This contaminated water is a built up at the wrecked Fukushima plant after treatment and dilution. These 1.3 million tons of wastewater can fill up around 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Hence, countries in East Asia, like South Korea and China, protested during that time against Japan’s unilateral decision to dump radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. Moreover, it’s not only the neighboring countries that have expressed their opposition and resistance to the plan of dumping wastewater into the sea. Even the Japanese people themselves are opposed to it. For instance, the local fisherfolks of Fukushima have publicly announced their opposition to the plan saying, “…the said plan will undo the years of work rebuilding their industry’s reputation since the plant was destroyed and ruined by the huge tsunami in March 2011.”
After two years, in a ministerial meeting around January of this year (2023), the Japanese government announced that it is pressing ahead of its unilateral decision to release the 1.3 million tons of radioactive waste water from the deceased Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean this spring or summer despite far-reaching oppositions from Japanese local fisherfolks, marine scientists, and from countries and civil society organizations across the Asia-Pacific region.
Disquieting, Unsettling & Perplexing
The primary contention of those opposing the dumping of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean is that such an act will be hazardous to the marine ecosystem and resources and will affect the fishing industries of countries in East Asia and the wider Asia Pacific region like the Philippines. If it pushes through, the planned dumping of nuke wastewater into the Pacific ocean will cause serious damage to the marine ecosystem and resources and adversely impact international public health and safety and the vital interests of the Asia Pacific region and its people.
Nevertheless, what’s pretty disquieting is the fact that, thus far, there has never been any precedent in the world or actual practice of discharging such a massive volume of nuclear wastewater into the sea, which makes it hard to assess the long-term effects of such planned dumping of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean. According to some reports, no independent testing of the nuke wastewater has been allowed or conducted thus far, which makes this whole venture a pretty risky gamble for the Japanese government to proceed. To note, nuclear waste can harm and damage marine ecosystems and habitats.
What’s even more bothersome and worrisome is the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not opposed to Japan’s unilateral decision in this regard. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which owns the power station, claims that the IAEA has the green light to proceed with the planned discharge of Fukushima-contaminated water into the sea. Accordingly, last 20 January 2023, in a briefing, IAEA nuclear safety official Gustavo Caruso, who heads a special agency task force on Fukushima, said Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has procedures in place to ensure the discharge meets international safety standards. This is rather an outrageous and dreadful statement from the IAEA, given that it has no relevant experience and even a concrete study on the possible adverse impact of dumping 1.3 million tons of nuke wastewater into the sea.
Many marine scientists and opposition groups have expressed that there has never been a thorough study with enough details, information, and data on the possible undesirable impacts of dumping 1.3 million tons of nuclear wastewater into the sea. A marine biologist at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, Robert Richmond, expressed that Japan's planned release of contaminated nuclear wastewater will set a dire and terrible precedent. Richmond further contended, “There is a strong consensus internationally that continued use of the ocean for dumping waste is simply not sustainable.”
On another note, though unsettling and perplexing, due to geopolitical considerations and geostrategic interests, the United States (US) seems to agree with the unilateral decision of the Japanese government to unload 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of nuke wastewater into the Pacific ocean. As expected, Washington cares and concerns more, and is willing to sacrifice the welfare of the wider Asia Pacific region, to prioritize its geopolitical and geostrategic interests in the Asia Pacific region in cahoots with the Japanese government by turning a blind eye to the risks and dangers posed by the planned dumping of nuke wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. Such a phony act on the part of the US government colluding with the Japanese government on this issue is indeed morally, ethically, socially, and environmentally retrograde and backward.
Conclusion
No doubt, given the uncertainty of the adverse impacts, risks, and safety on the marine environment of not just that of Japan but of the neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific region of the planned dumping of 1.3 million tons of nuke wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government as an act of courtesy should at least conduct comprehensive and sufficient consultations with countries in the Asia Pacific region to discuss further the issue, possible alternative solutions and its adverse impacts both to the marine resources and ecosystems and people’s health. The unilateral plan of the Japanese government to dump wastewater in the Pacific Ocean needs to be reconsidered and studied further.
Moreover, the unilateral plan of the Japanese government to discharge the Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean this spring or summer of this year (2023) is akin to Japan’s disregard for its adherence and compliance with international law on the protection of the environment, which is a set of principles that aims to curb pollution and depletion of natural resources. The spirit and principles of International Environmental Law purport that we are one ecosystem, that we are interconnected, and that the polluter must pay.
It should be noted that the bodies of water in Asia are very much connected, and pollutants originating from the Fukushima nuclear wastewater will no doubt reach nearby areas, affecting local marine and coastal environments and people’s health. Thus, if Japan is indeed a responsible member of the community of nations, Japan should think twice before proceeding with its plan and prudently consult with countries directly affected by such a decision.
However, Japan, a privileged country, may not heed the call of its neighbors, probably because it has the backing of the US. But if something goes wrong with the said plan, developing countries like the Philippines will undoubtedly be adversely affected and left alone to suffer the negative consequences.
We must be reminded that we depend on our natural environment. When we destroy our environment, we all suffer. Hence, we should remember that environmental problems and issues alike, including the planned dumping of Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, threaten humanity and all species and certainly warrants serious and equal attention. Hence, Asia Pacific countries must speak about and oppose one of the most critical environmental issues that might cause marine pollution in the Pacific Ocean and beyond soon.