[Suvs夜]'Garl' the never-ending nuclear power plant ghost story… Urged the Japanese government to self-defecate, "must be supervised and evaluated by neighboring countries"

Could the Fukushima Contaminated Water Ghost Story End with a Ghost Story?

SBS'I want to know it' broadcast on the 15th highlighted the controversies surrounding the contaminated water of the Fukushima nuclear power plant with the subtitle'Fukushima's Monster-Why doesn't the ghost story end?'

Masaki Iwaji, who was the producer of the Asahi TV report program, died suddenly in 2014 at the age of 49. And around his death, various ghost stories began to pour out.

Iwaji did not stop trying to tell the truth about the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident before his death. At the time, most of the news broadcasts refrained from reporting on the nuclear accident because of fear of Tokyo Electric Power, the advertiser. But Iwaji was different. He continued to report even though he pressured himself with follow-up, surveillance, and inspections. In particular, he continued to report on thyroid cancer in children, which was taboo as a case of radiation exposure.

Despite the pressure from the top, he locked the door of the transmission room and sent out the news, and even the day before his death, he ended his own life, who had uncovered the relationship between thyroid cancer and radioactivity. His acquaintances were hard to believe in his death, and it wasn't just his acquaintances. In response, many ghost stories made claims that he was murdered as a result of an apology at the nuclear power plant.

But his neighbor's story was quite different. It is said that Iwaji struggled with domestic feuds, and at the time of his death, the door was locked inside the room, and the tape was stuck inside the room unlike the one that appeared in the ghost story. In addition, a will was found at the time, and the police said that he had not found any other suspicions about his death and concluded that he committed suicide.

And the neighbor nodded about the ghost story surrounding Iwaji's death, saying, "If you look at the subject matter he was covering, such a story might come out." An acquaintance of Iwaji also said, "Even if a meltdown occurred immediately after the nuclear accident, he instructed not to report it. It was natural not to do it. But at that time, Iwaji died while continuing to report, so it is likely that such a mysterious story will come out." He explained that it was dangerous enough to be threatened.

Japanese media that lost their trust after the nuclear accident. Japanese media, under pressure to report on nuclear power plants, reported only the claims made by the government and Tokyo Electric Power. In such a reality, the mysterious story of nuclear power plants has accumulated even more.

However, it turned out that there is also the truth among the ghost stories. It was no mystery that hundreds of tons of polluted water from abandoned nuclear reactors was being released into the sea. As a result, Japanese authorities belatedly admitted the failure to control contaminated water. Accordingly, opinions about the government and Tokyo Electric Power diverged within Japan, and various ghost stories were created.

And in April, the Japanese government officially announced that it would release contaminated water to the ocean, causing great controversy. Not only our country, but also neighboring countries rebelled against Japan's announcement, and other ghost stories began to circulate.

However, domestic experts said about the composition of the contaminated water that Tokyo Electric Power announced in December 2020, "The water that can actually be drunk is correct. It is not dangerous." It is true if it is scientifically analyzed,” revealing the unexpected analysis result and attracting attention. It also revealed that the real damage from the discharge of contaminated water could be the stress caused by the ghost story, not the exposure caused by the contaminated water.

However, another expert pointed out that there are certainly risks that cannot be predicted scientifically, saying, "It is logically excess that 1.25 million tons will be safe because we are filtering radioactive material in water."

Experts' opinions are sharply opposed, but they all argued in common. An expert who believes in the safety of contaminated water said, "It is safe as long as the reports are correct," and stressed that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power should disclose honest and transparent information. In particular, he expressed the position that it is difficult to trust in view of the precedents of the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power, which had been fraudulent before.

My opinion in Japan was similar. Reporter Ryuichi Kino said, "The government made and announced that all the radioactive substances stored in the tank were below the detection limit. But when we analyzed the data of TEPCO, there were quite a few things that actually exceeded the underwater limit. "Contrary to the claims of Tokyo Electric Power and the government, there are still other ingredients that are harmful to the human body.

"Carbon 14 is a substance that can potentially cause genetic damage to the human body of plants, fishes, etc.," a German radioactivity expert pointed out that it is incomprehensible and inexplicable that carbon 14 was not explained.

A former Toshiba nuclear engineer said, "We need a proper explanation from the beginning and what we will do in the future. However, we only mention tritium and no other substances at all. This is deceitful of the people, so they say what they say. I can't believe it,” he demanded the magnetism of the government and Tokyo Electric Power.

And reporter Ryuichi expressed disbelief, saying, "It was better to conduct a thorough investigation in a place other than Tokyo Electric Power, but they refused to cooperate outside the company because they would.

Accordingly, the production crew requested an official interview with Tokyo Electric Power. The TEPCO side showed a friendly attitude as if recognizing the recent controversy, but when it started talking about contaminated water, it responded sensitively asking for caution in the use of the term.

In response to the opinion that it is difficult to ensure the purification of the entire amount of contaminated water, Tokyo Electric Power said it would repeat the purification through ALPS so that the contaminated water could be below the standard level. In addition, to the point that it promoted as if only tritium was left, he replied formally, "I was posting data through the website, but I am reflecting on the fact that there was not enough explanation for the people."

And when asked about the management and supervision plan for contaminated water in the future, he said, "We will disclose information including measurements by third parties by reinforcing monitoring and measurement of the sea." There are some, but in terms of ocean release, a third party is planning to review it in the future." Accordingly, the production team asked which institution it was a third party. Then, the Tokyo Electric Power side was puzzled by revealing that a related company of Tohoku Electric Power, an affiliate of Tokyo Electric Power, was in charge.

After the announcement of Japan's plan to release contaminated water at sea, President Moon Jae-in instructed the International Maritime Court to review the complaint. However, after a while, the Minister of Foreign Affairs provoked public anger by saying that there was no reason to object if the contaminated water was legally discharged according to the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

At a later parliamentary debate, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed for resentment, saying that there was a misreported aspect related to the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the opposition parties and the people are still raising their voices of condemnation.

A report on contaminated water last year found that the Korean government was expecting the discharge of contaminated water from Japan last year, and evaluated the risk not so high. Accordingly, the production team asked an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the report. Then, the official said that he could not answer because it is a sensitive matter.

Song Ki-ho, a lawyer specializing in international commerce, requested the disclosure of information on what data the government made this decision. “Depending on what the data are, our response may be different. According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, planned or intended release actions should also be assessed for their potential impact on the marine ecosystem and shared with international organizations and neighbors. It is important how objective and verifiable data have been provided to the decision to release this release. However, I don't think Japan has properly assessed the potential impact of the planned action.”

In response, Tokyo Electric Power replied, "We will proceed with ocean discharge in consultation with the IAEA after being evaluated by the IAEA."

Lastly, the broadcast said that it was not the IAEA that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power needed to discuss, supervise and evaluate, but neighboring countries such as Korea.

(SBS Entertainment News Editor Kim Hyo-jeong)