Japan acts forgetful and deaf in dumping nuclear-contaminated water

An aerial view shows the storage tanks for treated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. [Photo/Xinhua]

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Despite strong opposition from the international community, the Japanese government started releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant on Thursday. According to reports, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) plans to release 7,800 tons of nuclear-contaminated water in the 17-day first round of the release, aiming to discharge 31,200 tons by the end of March 2024. The discharge is expected to take at least 30 years.

Since 2011, Tokyo has been using dirty tactics for its dumping plan. It has taken advantage of an alliance with Washington to woo support. Tokyo has resorted to fancy political words to deceive the international community, and painted the International Atomic Energy Agency in a corner on the safety review. The Japanese government has been acting deaf to protests within and out of the country and it has violated "procedural justice" in dumping nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean.

The Japanese government has chosen to act ignorant on the dangers of the discharge. After 12 years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, residents have long been evacuated from thousands of square kilometers of the nuclear plant. Wild fauna and flora, as well as agricultural products, in the area are subjected to radiation. In an interview with the BBC, volunteer Ai Kimura said radiation has become an "invisible enemy" that has brought constant "fear" to local people.

Macroscopic simulation results of diffusion of tritium. [Photo/Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School]

The Fukushima nuclear wastewater contains more than 60 radionuclides, over 70 percent of which have failed to meet the global discharge standard. This is a consensus shared among scientists. The radioactive tritium, in particular, has been the focus of international attention. For a long time, the Japanese government has been deceiving the public, arguing that the level of tritium is safe after being filtered through the Advanced Liquid Processing System.

However, the reality is opposite. Masamichi Nishio, the honorary director of the Hokkaido Cancer Center, warned the tritium will remain in the environment and the body, and this is no different from a "homicidal act," adding that the Japanese government has been telling lies.

Gao Zhiguo, the president of Chinese Society of Law of the Sea (CSLOS), and a former member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, believed carbon-14 and iodine-129 are the most dangerous to humans and marine animals. While carbon-14, which can be accumulated in marine organisms and fish, has a half-life of 5,370 years, iodine-129 has 17.3 million years. Lee Jae-myung, the chief of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party, called Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water an "act of terror."

People attend a rally against Japan's radioactive wastewater dumping plan in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, July 10, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Japanese government has deliberately turned deaf to opposing voices. But interestingly, just 28 years ago, Tokyo voiced opposition to Russia's discharge with stern words. In 1993, a Russian ship TNT-27 dumped 900 tons of radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan. The Japanese government launched strong protests and summoned then Russia's ambassador, stressing it cannot accept such irresponsible behavior. Today, the amount of wastewater Japan is discharging into the ocean is almost 10,000 times that of Russia's. The Japanese government pretends to forget and chooses to act deaf.

Japan is prioritizing its selfish interests over the well-being of all humans. Dumping nuclear wastewater is a crime, bringing immeasurable dangers to the world. Tokyo's discharge is not only a disservice to its people, but also slammed by the international community. No one wants August 24 to be a Disaster Day for marine environment, and no one wants to see their offspring paying the price with their health for Japan's irresponsible behavior.