Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, July 23. Japan’s nuclear regulator, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission, held a meeting on the 22nd and officially approved the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (hereinafter referred to as TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s plan for the discharge of nuclear polluted water. According to this plan, if the local government agrees, TEPCO will begin to discharge nuclear-contaminated water next spring.
Analysts pointed out that the Japanese government formally decided to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean in April last year, despite strong domestic and foreign opposition. For more than a year, despite rising domestic and international opposition, the Japanese side turned a deaf ear and insisted on forcibly discharging nuclear-polluted water into the sea, which is extremely irresponsible and will cause serious harm to the global marine environment.
This is the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan on April 13, 2021. (Xinhua News Agency/Kyodo News)
push hard
In April of this year, Japan’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission ignored domestic and international objections and doubts, “generally agreed” with TEPCO’s emission plan, and formed a “review” draft. In May, the committee confirmed the draft of the “review letter” and said that the draft was “no problem”, and entered the public comment period.
According to reports, 670 of the more than 1,200 opinions collected were technical opinions, including concerns about the determination of the concentration of nuclear-contaminated water and the earthquake resistance of equipment. Despite this, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission discussed the collected opinions on the 22nd and said that TEPCO’s response was “appropriate” and approved its nuclear-polluted water discharge plan.
After the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011, a large amount of nuclear-contaminated water was produced in order to continuously cool down the nuclear reactor whose core was melted down. TEPCO has prepared about 1,000 storage tanks to store nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. With the available capacity of water storage tanks dwindling, the Japanese government held a cabinet meeting in April last year and formally decided to filter and dilute the nuclear-contaminated water before discharging it into the sea.
This is a nuclear sewage storage tank at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, taken on February 13, 2021. (Xinhua News Agency/Kyodo News)
Analysts pointed out that although the emission plan was formulated by TEPCO in name, in fact this plan could not be completed without the participation and support of the Japanese government.
According to Japanese media reports, in addition to promoting the approval of the emission plan, the Japanese side is also stepping up the construction of the sea discharge pipeline. At the end of April this year, TEPCO launched the construction of the outfall of the submarine tunnel for the discharge of nuclear polluted water, and the goal is to complete the related works in April 2023.
orpiment
At present, all parties are generally concerned about the impact of Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated water on the marine environment and the health of the people of the Pacific Rim countries. Questions are raised about the controllability of environmental impacts. The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Grossi, said in an interview last year that Japan’s nuclear waste discharge into the Pacific should not cause environmental damage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has established a technical working group to visit Japan twice for on-site inspections and assessments. So far, it has not reached conclusive opinions on Japan’s sea discharge plan, and has also put forward many clarification requirements and improvement opinions. China and Russia have submitted a joint technical issue list to the Japanese side, which has not yet received any feedback from the Japanese side. Not long ago, the leaders’ meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum and the foreign ministers’ meeting also expressed serious concerns about related issues.
In this regard, the Japanese side not only deliberately avoided these questions, but also made slander and tried its best to cover up and downplay the harm. The Japanese side claims that before the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water is discharged into the sea, it must be filtered by the “Multinuclide Removal Equipment” (ALPS) to remove more than 60 kinds of radioactive substances. Tritium, which is difficult to remove by the equipment, will be diluted to a concentration far below the Japanese national standard and discharged into the sea. The Japanese side also confuses concepts and confuses nuclear-contaminated water with wastewater, saying that the wastewater discharged from nuclear power plants around the world contains tritium, and it is safe to discharge into the sea after dilution.
In fact, the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water is not tritium-containing wastewater discharged during the normal operation of the nuclear power plant. The radioactive substances contained in it are extremely complex, and it is doubtful whether it can be effectively removed. Given the Japanese government and TEPCO’s record of dishonesty in handling the Fukushima nuclear accident, their claims are hard to believe.
Japanese media have found that in addition to tritium, there are many radioactive substances in the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water. TEPCO also admitted that more than 70% of the nuclear-contaminated water treated by ALPS does not meet the discharge standards and needs to be filtered again.
strongly disagree
Regarding Japan’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, there have always been a lot of doubts and opposition in Japan and the international community. The statement of the Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission on the 22nd once again caused serious concerns, and all parties urged Japan to revoke the wrong decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea.
Protesters protest against the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear program into the sea outside the prime minister’s residence in Tokyo, Japan, April 13, 2021. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Xiaoyi)
People from Tokyo, Chiba and Fukushima held protests that day. People participating in the event said that the decision of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission is related to the future of Fukushima and the marine environment, but such an important decision was made hastily without fully informing the Japanese people, which is very irresponsible. Some people said that they firmly oppose the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, and Japan can no longer pollute the ocean and the earth.
The National Federation of Fisheries Associations of Japan held a meeting in Tokyo a few days ago, and unanimously passed a special resolution “reaffirming the position of resolute opposition to the discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the sea”. This is the third time the group has passed a resolution against the discharge of water polluted by the Fukushima nuclear program.
Japan’s irresponsible actions aroused strong opposition from neighboring countries. The South Korean government said on the 22nd that it is concerned about the Japanese nuclear regulator’s approval of the discharge of pollutants into the sea and will take countermeasures. At the same time, South Korea will also strengthen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to strengthen the detection of radiation in the domestic marine environment.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated on the 22nd that the disposal of water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear issue concerns the global marine environment and the public health of the Pacific Rim countries, and is by no means the private matter of the Japanese family. China once again urges Japan to earnestly fulfill its due international obligations, dispose of nuclear-contaminated water in a scientific, open, transparent and safe manner, and stop forcibly pushing the sea discharge plan. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Japan should not initiate the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea without authorization until it has fully consulted and reached an agreement with stakeholders and relevant international institutions. If Japan insists on putting its own self-interest above the international public interest and insists on taking a dangerous step, it will definitely pay the price for its irresponsible behavior and leave a historical stain.
[Editor in charge: Shu Liang]