An activist during a protest against Japan's plan to dump treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean in Seoul, South Korea Photo: Kim Hoon Ji /Reuters
On Thursday, Japan began dumping radioactive water containing tritium from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, angering neighboring countries.
Shortly after engineers began the procedure for discharging purified water at 13:00 local time, the Chinese government imposed a total ban on the import of all seafood from Japan.
Beijing said it was «very concerned about the risk of radioactive contamination.» Japan's food and agricultural products exported to China.
Fukushima radioactive water storage tanks Credit : Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images
The South Korean government said it was satisfied with the scientific evidence for the safety of the release provided by Japanese authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency, but said Korean scientists would monitor radiation in seawater and fish catches, and Seoul would take legal action if levels exceed legal limits. levels. restrictions.
The South Korean opposition, however, had less understanding of Tokyo's decision, as Lee Jae-myung, head of the Democratic Party, accused Japan of a «terrorist act» that would «go down in history as the Second Pacific War.»
'The sea is not a Japanese trash can'
On Thursday, South Korean police detained 16 university students for trying to break into the Japanese embassy in Seoul to protest the liberation.
Students gathered at 8- floor of a building in the city center where the embassy in the South Korean capital is located and tried to break into it by shouting slogans against the Fukushima water dump, the Yonhap Newswire reported.
Tritium and human health
Protesters also posted banners condemning Japan's actions. “The sea is not a Japanese wastebasket,” read one of the banners. «Immediately stop dumping contaminated water,» said another.
Japan's allies in the region have proven more supportive, with the Australian ambassador in Tokyo saying his government has «full confidence in an independent, impartial and scientific government.» based on technical advice” provided by the IAEA prior to the water release.
The US also sided with Tokyo: Emanuel Ram, the US ambassador to Tokyo, told reporters on Thursday that he intends to visit Fukushima in the near future and looks forward to trying the local sushi.
Local fishermen oppose the decision
Communities in northeast Japan expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision, and the national fishermen's federation accused the government of breaking its promise to «reach understanding» for the local fishing industry.
“Our opposition to the plan to free the ocean, which cannot be understood by fisheries operators and the public, remains absolutely unchanged,” the federation said, adding that while fish caught in northeast Japan may be safe to eat, it little is «fit for human consumption». social trust», and this has damaged the reputation of the industry.
Japanese fishermen have expressed concern over the government's decision to dump polluted water into the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Kim Soo-hyun/Reuters
The Tokyo-based Citizens' Center for Nuclear Information condemned the government's decision, accusing it of violating regulations. of the London Convention on Marine Pollution and pointing out that the IAEA was unable to provide an environmental assessment of the cumulative impact of the discharge of treated water over the next 30 years.
«The government's unilateral repudiation of its written promises is an action that is both irrational and unethical and completely destroys the credibility not only of the government but also of politics,» the statement said. “Social norms will collapse. The government says it will «take full responsibility for the situation, even if it takes decades to resolve,» but who would believe that?
Water has been accumulating in the power plant's tanks since three of its six reactors were destroyed in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It is estimated that 1.13 million tons of water that was sprayed onto the reactor chambers to keep them cool or seeped into underground levels of the nuclear power plant will be released into the ocean over the next 30 years.
Tokyo said it had considered a number of options for water utilization, including underground burial and its evaporation into the atmosphere. The government, however, has concluded that treating contaminated water in an advanced fluid handling system and then heavily diluting it and gradually discharging it to the ocean is the most efficient and safe approach.
Although the plant's ALPS facility is capable of recovering radionuclides such as strontium, ruthenium, caesium-134 and iodine-131 to levels below legally acceptable levels, but unable to eliminate the tritium isotope. However, experts insist that tritium has a short half-life and does not pose a threat to human life or ocean flora and fauna.
According to Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the power plant, the initial 7,076 tons of purified water will be diluted with sea water and discarded over the next 17 days.
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