China News Service, April 13 (Liu Cong) On April 13, the Japanese government held a cabinet meeting and decided to discharge the increasing nuclear sewage from the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea.

　　Ten years have passed since the 3.11 earthquake in Japan, and the nuclear wastewater problem at the Fukushima nuclear power plant has not yet been resolved.

For many years, Japan has always wanted to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea.

Despite facing numerous "internal and external troubles" and despite repeated protests, Japan still has to "do its own way."

This time, is Japan finally making up its mind?

Data map: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

　　Discharge the Fukushima nuclear sewage into the sea

　　Japan is here for real!

　　The Japanese government decided at a relevant cabinet meeting held on April 13 to discharge the increasing amount of waste water containing tritium and other radioactive materials into the sea from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

　　The Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) reported that the Japanese government’s specific approach is to prepare for discharge from the compound of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to the sea in two years’ time; at the time of discharge, dilute the concentration of tritium to the country. One fortieth of the standard.

The Japanese government stated that it will invite local governments and fishery industry personnel to join in to strengthen the monitoring system of tritium concentrations before and after discharge.

　　In addition, the Japanese government intends to send a "highly transparent and objective" message to Japan and abroad with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

　　The safety issue of Japan's nuclear sewage discharge has been controversial.

　　Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga previously promised that he would "clearly explain to the outside world" the safety of the discharge of nuclear waste water and "guarantee that this approach does not harm the interests of Japanese fisheries."

Data map: The storage tank used to store nuclear sewage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

　　However, Japanese fishery personnel protested that the discharge of radioactive sewage into the sea would further increase the burden of nuclear disasters on local fishermen.

Someone even asked, "If it is considered safe, why not discharge the sewage into Tokyo Bay?"

　　According to statistics from local environmental protection organizations in Fukushima, 41 of the 59 municipal councils in Fukushima prefecture do not approve of the plan to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea.

As of December 2020, the environmental protection group has collected 450,000 signatures from Japanese citizens and opposes this plan.

　　In addition, the issue is still being opposed by international environmental agencies and neighboring countries. For example, South Korea has stated that it will work with the International Fisheries Organization to make tough countermeasures.

　　Previously, the Japanese authorities had originally planned to discharge the waste water from nuclear radiation into the sea in October 2020, but later shelved it due to opposition at home and abroad.

Data map: Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company in Japan and media reporters dressed in protective clothing entered the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 Response Building for investigation.

　　Still difficult to "get it right once and for all"

　　Why does Japan go its own way?

　　The German Antarctic Ocean Agency has warned that if Japan discharges all waste water into the sea, within half a year, the entire Pacific Ocean will face a high degree of radiation threat, including the United States.

By then, not only coastal residents will be directly harmed, but the marine environment and organisms will also be polluted, which will eventually cause secondary harm to the human body.

　　Vladimir Rakov, the chief researcher of the laboratory of the Institute of Pacific Ocean Research of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also said that even after filtration, if Fukushima nuclear sewage is discharged into the ocean, it may still cause radioactive isotopes to remain. Including fish and other marine organisms, and then accumulate in the human body.

　　After the Fukushima nuclear power plant was destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami, a large amount of radioactive materials such as strontium and cesium leaked to the outside world.

　　In April 2011, the Japan Atomic Energy Research and Development Agency conducted a computer simulation calculation on the diffusion of radioactive cesium with a half-life of about 30 years. It was found that radioactive cesium would arrive in North America after 5 years following the ocean current and return to eastern Asia after 10 years. After 30 years, it spread to almost the entire Pacific Ocean.

　　The Tokyo Electric Power Company once claimed that the nuclear sewage has been filtered to remove high-level radioactive materials such as strontium and cesium, leaving tritium, which is relatively difficult to remove.

　　Data show that tritium has low toxicity, and only a large amount of inhalation can be harmful to humans.

However, due to its biological activity, it will be used by human cells for cell metabolism, causing direct internal radiation, which will seriously endanger the health of the inhaler.

At present, there is no technology in the world that can completely treat tritium in nuclear sewage.

　　However, according to foreign media reports, in 2018, under pressure from fishermen’s questioning, TEPCO once admitted that nuclear waste water contained tritium as well as other radioactive materials.

The harm caused by nuclear sewage discharge will be unpredictable.

Data map: In 2017, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced the first use of underwater robots to capture the specific conditions inside Unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

TEPCO analyzed that the nuclear residue was likely to have flowed to the bottom of the containment vessel.

(Video screenshot)

　　Under such circumstances, Japan has been "willing to go its own way" for many years, and still has to discharge sewage into the sea.

On April 4, 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company discharged 11,500 tons of sewage containing low-concentration radioactive substances into the sea.

　　Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, pointed out in an interview with Chinanews that Japan did so for three main reasons.

First, although there is opposition from the public and media in many countries, it has not risen to the legal level.

Therefore, the current opposition voices are all a kind of "weak opposition" and are not coercive.

　　Second, as for Japan's actions, it is mainly opposed by East Asian countries around Japan, while the voices of opposition from European and American countries are not high.

Lu Yaodong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also said that Japan would still go its own way if the United States and other Western countries did not stand up to condemn it. Although South Korea strongly opposed it before, Japan has always ignored.

　　"The third reason is that Japan has a lot of power in the IAEA. The officials sent by the Japanese government have long served as the chief secretary of the IAEA. Japan has a great influence here, so the IAEA also has elements of favoring Japan. "Zhou Yongsheng further pointed out.

　　In addition, due to inadequate site planning for nuclear waste, Japan has been unable to withstand more than one million tons of nuclear sewage.

If they continue to gather, they will be unreliable in terms of safety on the one hand, and on the other hand, the cost will continue to rise, which will become a serious economic burden, social burden, and security risk burden for the country.

　　Someone once suggested that Japan can solve the nuclear sewage problem by improving its storage capacity.

However, from the current point of view, the Japanese government is looking for the most economical, most affordable, and least burdensome method for the country-directly into the Pacific Ocean.

Data map: On August 8, 2014 local time, in Fukushima, Japan, people demonstrated against the Tokyo Electric Power Company's discharge of sewage into the sea.

　　Decisions are about internal affairs and diplomacy

　　Japan may be nailed to the "pillar of shame"?

　　Recently, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan stated that how to deal with the issue of Fukushima nuclear sewage is related to internal affairs and diplomacy.

　　Lu Yaodong told Chinanews.com that the issue of nuclear leakage is very sensitive internationally.

The Japanese government’s "disregarding the public safety of the international community, which will cause transnational pollution, is very unbelievable."

　　"If Japan finally decides and implements the discharge of nuclear waste water into the sea, Japan will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history, and will be subject to long-term condemnation and investigation by the international community," Zhou Yongsheng further explained, "because of the impact on the environment. The damage is deep and long-term. People may see more serious negative consequences in a few decades."

　　Zhou Yongsheng also pointed out that this time Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resolutely stated that he would discharge nuclear sewage into the sea. This decision can be described as a mixed reputation for his administration.

Because "this is the easiest, most economical, most affordable, and minimal investment method for the Japanese, so it is tantamount to shed the burden on Japan."

　　Japan's most "sorry" is that, in addition to the public health of the global people, it is the ocean where fishermen have depended on each other for generations.

There is no doubt that Japan’s fisheries industry, marine aquaculture and seafood exports in the future are likely to be devastated.

　　And by then, will Japan regret its decision today?

Data map: On March 14, 2011, the damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan after the earthquake.

　　Memorabilia of Fukushima Nuclear Wastewater Treatment

　【year 2011】

　　On March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred in the seas of northeastern Japan. The earthquake triggered the first wave of tsunami to hit the northeastern coast of Japan.

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant collapsed. Subsequently, the nuclear power plant unit exploded and radioactive material leaked.

At that time, Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced that the local area had entered a state of nuclear emergency.

　　On April 12, the Japanese government set the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident level as the highest level 7 in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency standards.

　　On April 22, the Japanese government designated a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as a "compulsory evacuation zone" and a radius of 20 to 30 kilometers as an "emergency evacuation preparation area."

　　【2013, 2014】

　　The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has repeatedly leaked nuclear sewage.

Data map: In 2014, Tokyo Electric Power Company stated that a 1,000-ton sewage storage tank at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had a leak.

　　【2015】

　　The Tokyo Electric Power Company of Japan discharged the purified groundwater from the surrounding areas of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea.

　　【2017】

　　For the first time, the chairman of TEPCO talked about the policy of discharging nuclear sewage containing tritium into the sea on a formal occasion.

　　【2018】

　　The South Korean government stated that it was first learned in August that Japan plans to discharge Fukushima nuclear sewage into the sea, and has since been making representations to the Japanese side, but the Japanese government has only repeatedly stated that "related issues are still in the discussion stage."

　　【2020】

　　TEPCO confirmed that as of September, thousands of storage tanks in the nuclear power plant had stored approximately 1.23 million tons of radioactive sewage, with an increase of 170 tons per day. It is expected that the capacity limit will be reached in the summer of 2022.

　　In October, the Japanese government plans to make a final decision on the treatment of nuclear sewage, gradually discharging nuclear sewage into the sea.

However, due to the protests and condemnation of the local people and the international community, the implementation was shelved.

　　【2021】

　　On March 23, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama and IAEA Director General Grossi held a video conference.

The two parties reached a cooperative agreement on the treatment of nuclear contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

　　On April 9, the Japanese government stated that it had "basically decided" to discharge nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea.

A cabinet meeting will be held on the 13th to make a formal decision.