China News Service, April 13 (Bian Lei) On April 13, the Japanese government held a cabinet meeting to formally decide that the nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will be discharged into the sea after being treated and diluted.
Many parties questioned that these treated water still contained radioactive materials.
Where does the current million tons of Fukushima nuclear sewage come from?
What is the harm of nuclear sewage? Can seafood still be eaten?
What areas will be affected when nuclear sewage is discharged into the sea?
How did the international community react to this?
The Japanese government has requested the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to make relevant preparations with the goal of discharging nuclear sewage after two years.
What is clear is that since then, the "Pandora's Box" will be opened.
Data map: On March 10, 2016, the day before the 5th anniversary of the "3-11" earthquake in Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was shut down and lights up at dusk.
[Where does 1.2 million tons of nuclear sewage come from? 】
This starts with the strongest earthquake on the east coast of Japan in March 2011.
The magnitude of the 9-magnitude earthquake was strong and caused a four-story tsunami to rush to the coast. The three reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were melted and radioactive materials leaked, making it the worst in human history. One of the nuclear disasters.
After the accident, a large amount of nuclear sewage was generated by continuously cooling the reactor core and newly injected water, as well as a large amount of groundwater and rainwater that infiltrated the reactor.
Currently, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station has stored more than 1.2 million tons of nuclear sewage in thousands of large-scale water storage tanks.
Moreover, Fukushima still produces about 140 tons of nuclear sewage every day.
It is estimated that by 2022, nuclear sewage will reach the limit of 1.37 million tons of water storage facilities.
[Nuclear sewage will damage human DNA? 】
Japan's discussion on discharging nuclear sewage into the sea began as early as 2011.
The last time the government proposed this idea was in October 2020.
However, due to fierce opposition from many parties, the idea finally failed.
Originally, the term "nuclear sewage" was enough to arouse people's fear.
In these waters, there are a lot of radionuclides.
Although TEPCO currently uses specialized equipment "Multi-Nuclide Removal Equipment" (ALPS) to purify nuclear sewage, previous reports revealed that even if the Japanese claimed to have filtered the "treated water", there were still radioactive material residues.
In 2019, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in the United States stated that nuclear sewage contains radioactive elements such as iodine-129, strontium-90, ruthenium-106, and carbon-14.
Among them, iodine-129 can cause thyroid cancer, and strontium-90 is included in the World Health Organization's list of carcinogens, which can easily cause leukemia.
The environmental protection organization "Greenpeace" pointed out in 2020 that the radioactive isotope carbon-14 and other radioactive substances in Fukushima nuclear sewage are extremely dangerous, and there is a potential danger of damaging human DNA.
Data map: On November 12, 2011, Japanese government officials and journalists entered the Fukushima nuclear power plant where the accident occurred to conduct on-site interviews.
[Affect the table, can seafood still be eaten? 】
According to the "Health Times" citing expert opinions, "Generally speaking, the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea will affect us."
According to the report, Liu Entao, School of Oceanography, China University of Geosciences, pointed out that “human beings are at the top of the food chain pyramid, and radioactive elements enriched in seafood and other organisms will affect humans through the transmission of the food chain.”
According to analysis, humans indirectly ingest various radioactive isotopes in seawater through the consumption of seafood.
Experiments have proved that if long-term and large amounts of radioactive contaminated seafood are consumed, radioactive substances in the body may accumulate beyond the allowable amount, causing chronic radiation sickness and other diseases, and causing damage to the blood organs, endocrine system, and nervous system.
[There is no precedent in the world for nuclear sewage to be discharged into the sea? 】
Before the Fukushima nuclear accident, mankind had experienced many major nuclear accidents.
However, including the Chernobyl nuclear power plant leakage accident and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, they all chose to release into the atmosphere.
Some experts pointed out that there has not been a nuclear accident similar to the Fukushima nuclear accident that would produce a large amount of sewage, so there is no precedent for the discharge of sewage treated by a nuclear accident to the sea.
In addition, experts also stated that there is no provision for an international third-party agency to inspect and discharge the treated nuclear sewage, nor does it have relevant inspection procedures and standards.
Data map: Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company released a picture showing that a clamped tubular device with a camera on the front "touched" the nuclear residue inside the Unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
[What are the "options" for nuclear wastewater treatment? 】
Since 2013, the Japanese government has proposed five methods for sewage disposal, including: injection into the ground, discharge into the ocean, release of steam, release of hydrogen, and underground burial.
After that, the Expert Committee organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan submitted a report in February 2020, stating that the "most practical solution" is to dilute nuclear sewage into the sea or evaporate into the atmosphere.
However, as the report of the expert meeting of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry wrote: "It takes the shortest time and the least cost to discharge into the sea."
As a result, the option of discharging nuclear sewage into the sea was selected.
[Which areas will nuclear sewage affect? 】
It is foreseeable that once Japan discharges the treated nuclear sewage into the sea, it will be difficult to harvest the water.
Initially, the Pacific coast of Japan will be affected, especially some waters around Fukushima Prefecture. After that, sewage will also pollute the East China Sea.
Countries around Japan will inevitably be affected.
According to a German marine scientific research institute, radioactive materials will spread to most of the Pacific Ocean within 57 days from the date of discharge, and the United States and Canada will be affected in three years.
Taking the radioactive substance cesium as an example, the Japan Atomic Energy Research and Development Agency has carried out computer simulation calculations on the diffusion of radioactive cesium with a half-life of about 30 years, and found that it will follow the ocean current for 5 years and reach North America; it will return with the ocean current in 10 years. Eastern Asia; 30 years later, it will almost spread to the entire Pacific Ocean.
[The public is angry, "Japan opposes Japan first"]
The most direct resistance to the Japanese government's discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea comes from Japan.
On the eve of the Japanese government’s decision, a number of citizen groups in the country submitted their collected signatures on April 12 against the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea. There were about 64,000 signatures from 88 countries including Japan. area.
Natsuka Manta, director of the Japanese environmental protection organization FoE Japan, pointed out that the Japanese government's decision was a "crude decision method" that had not been fully discussed.
In addition, the Japanese citizen group "National Nuclear Explosion Victims' Second Generation Group Liaison Council" announced on the 12th that it had sent a petition to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and six related cabinet officials, requesting that they not be discharged into the sea.
The 62-year-old chairman of Nagasaki City, Nobuyuki Sakiyama, said: "Tepco and the government should explore ways to manage sewage on land."
On April 12th, local time, outside the prime minister's office in Tokyo, local people held a rally to protest the Japanese government's plan to discharge purified water from the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
[The international community is highly concerned, what the United States says...]
Foreign media pointed out that in the latest statement, the United States seems to have acquiesced to Japan's decision.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the United States believes that Japan’s measures “seem to meet globally recognized nuclear safety standards” and will continue to communicate with Japan.
On April 13, the South Korean government expressed its deep regret over Japan’s decision and stated that it would take all feasible measures to protect the safety of South Korean citizens.
The head of the Office of State Affairs, Gu Junzhe, said that the government urges Japan to transparently disclose information on the Fukushima nuclear sewage treatment and allow the international community to scientifically verify the treatment measures.
The day before, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Grossi said that the agency has noticed the concerns of all parties on this matter, understands that this matter is receiving global attention, and is willing to promote the agency’s assessment and supervision in a fair, objective, and scientific manner. jobs.
Jennifer Morgan, director-general of Greenpeace International, issued a statement stating that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power believe that the discharge of nuclear sewage to the Pacific can be "rationalized". This is a "very terrible thing."
The decision of the Japanese government violates the legal obligations stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
On April 9, 12, and 13, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the issue of Japan’s nuclear sewage discharge to the sea three times.
In the latest statement on the 13th, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Japan had not exhausted its security measures, ignored domestic and foreign questions and opposition, and had unilaterally decided to exclude seas without full consultation with neighboring countries and the international community. Disposal of nuclear waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident is extremely irresponsible and will seriously damage international public health and safety and the vital interests of the people of neighboring countries.
At the same time, China pointed out that it will continue to work closely with the international community to monitor developments and reserve the right to make further responses.
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