One million tons of radioactive wastewater is set to be released into the Pacific Ocean from a nuclear power plant in the large city of Fukushima in northeastern Japan on Thursday.
This was reported by a number of international media, including Watchman and Danish extrabladet.
This is the real nuclear accident
The plan has become a topic of debate because the water contains tritium, a radioactive material that cannot be removed by the plant’s water filtration technology.
green light
Japan already decided two years ago that waste should be dumped into the sea, and in the meantime the country has received heavy criticism from several quarters for using the Pacific Ocean as a “private sewage system”.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had given the green light for implementation a few weeks ago.
They assert, among other things, that the potential harm that such a discharge could cause to the environment, to people and animals respectively, would be of a “negligible” nature.
University of Adelaide nuclear expert Tony Hawker also sheds light on this claim.
– Tritium has been released by nuclear power plants for several decades with no demonstrable adverse environmental or health effects, he told the Guardian.
Wrong solution
However, the next discharge was not allowed to go unnoticed. Both trading partners and environmental organizations, therefore, believe there will be consequences in many areas.
– The Japanese government has chosen the wrong solution for a long time; Specifically, decades of marine pollution at a time when the world’s oceans are already facing a lot of stress and stress, says Sean Burney of Greenpeace East Asia.
Protest: Many South Koreans took to the streets to protest the Japanese plans. Photograph: Anthony Wallace/AFP
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Hong Kong, an important market for Japanese fish exports, has also threatened restrictions.
Pretend
Local fishermen are said to have also objected to the plans, as they fear it could destroy the area’s fishing industry – they claim that pumping water into fishing boats could be harmful.
The first global survey shows: this is how much radiation the Fukushima accident caused
In South Korea, too, people were disgusted with these plans. Many protesters have taken to the streets in recent days to express their discontent with the decision in Tokyo.
according to ap Several hundred South Koreans are said to have participated in the demonstration on Tuesday, August 22.
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