China News Agency, Beijing, April 13 (Li Jingze and Huang Yuqin) Amidst domestic and foreign questions and opposition, the Japanese government officially decided at the cabinet meeting on the 13th that Fukushima nuclear sewage will be discharged into the Pacific Ocean one after another two years later.
At present, the international public opinion triggered by the decision is still fermenting.
Why does Japan insist on doing it?
How will the international community respond?
It has become a hot spot of concern to all parties nowadays.
Why must nuclear sewage be discharged into the sea?
The million tons of nuclear sewage that Japan intends to discharge this time is the result of a decade of accumulation.
In 2011, the Fukushima earthquake triggered a tsunami, causing serious damage to the nuclear reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and exploding.
In order to cool the core temperature, the nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company had to continuously inject cooling water into the nuclear reactor.
On April 13, the Japanese government officially decided that the nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will be discharged into the sea after being filtered and diluted.
The picture shows the Japanese people holding a protest outside the office of the Japanese Prime Minister.
After ten years of accumulation, the nuclear sewage stored in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has exceeded 1.23 million tons, which can almost fill more than 570 standard swimming pools.
After the nuclear sewage is processed, it is placed in storage tanks, and the maximum storage tanks are 1.37 million tons.
According to Japanese media reports, based on the current average daily production of 140 tons of nuclear sewage, it is expected that by the autumn of 2022, the storage tanks for the treated water will reach the upper limit of storage.
In order not to impede the decommissioning of the reactor, the Japanese government must quickly make a decision.
These waste water storage tanks are like "time bombs." The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company have studied various solutions. Discharging them into the sea is by no means the only option in Japan.
Japan’s “Nuclear Energy Citizens’ Committee” has pointed out that “large storage tanks stored on land” or “solidified treatment with mortar” is the best way to solve the nuclear wastewater problem under the existing technology.
Jin Yongming, a professor at the Ocean University of China and a senior researcher at the Ocean Development Institute of Ocean University of China, proposed a solution, that is, to build storage facilities in many uninhabitable open spaces around nuclear power plants due to excessive radiation concentrations.
Regarding Japan’s insistence on the option of discharging pollution into the sea, Li Kefei, a professor at Harbin Institute of Technology, told reporters that this is because the Japanese government puts the cost factor in the first place, that is, choosing the "most cost-effective" method.
In this regard, there are voices in the world saying that Japan has saved its own costs, but the whole world has to pay for the Fukushima nuclear accident.
What is the impact of nuclear sewage discharged into the sea?
As we all know, nuclear sewage contains a large amount of radioactive materials such as tritium and carbon 14, among which tritium may cause cell death and DNA genetic damage.
This is also the main cause of widespread concern in the international community.
Japan explained that after a sophisticated filtering process, most of the radioactive isotopes can be removed, and only "tritium" cannot be removed.
Before the nuclear sewage is discharged into the sea, they will perform a secondary treatment of the waste water, diluting the concentration of tritium to 1/40 of the Japanese national standard. After slowly flowing into the sea, the concentration of "tritium" in the waste water will be further reduced. Will not cause pollution to the marine environment.
Data map: The nuclear sewage storage tank of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan on February 13.
In this regard, the international community does not agree.
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Energy pointed out that the impact of nuclear waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident on the marine ecological environment requires continuous follow-up observation. Greenpeace nuclear experts also believe that the carbon 14 contained in Japanese nuclear waste water is dangerous for thousands of years. May cause genetic damage.
"This seemingly reasonable approach has unreasonable risks." Li Kefei explained that after being discharged into the ocean, the unit concentration of nuclear pollutants decreases, but the total amount continues to increase, which still poses greater environmental and health risks. This risk is global and irreversible.
At present, some scientific institutions have begun to explore the possible impact.
According to the German Marine Science Research Institute, within 57 days from the date of discharge, radioactive materials will spread to most of the Pacific Ocean, and in 10 years will spread to the world's seas.
"In this global proliferation, humans will not sense the immediate damage of micro-concentration nuclear pollution in a short period of time, but the latter has changed the living environment of marine life and may lead to biological mutation." Li Kefei said, nuclide The impact of enrichment in the food chain is still incalculable.
What about the international community that Japan insists on?
Obviously, because radioactive materials diffuse with ocean currents after entering the sea, nuclear pollution is not only a domestic issue in Japan, but an international issue involving global marine ecology and environmental safety.
Not only the International Atomic Energy Agency and others have expressed their concerns, but neighboring countries that bear the brunt of nuclear pollution have already taken the lead.
Just a few hours after Japan’s decision, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Japan had not exhausted its security measures, ignored domestic and foreign questions and opposition, and unilaterally decided to deal with it without full consultation with neighboring countries and the international community. It is extremely irresponsible to dispose of nuclear waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident by way of drainage.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Japanese ambassador to South Korea and lodged a solemn protest against Japan's decision.
"This has violated the principle of solving international problems through multilateral methods." Sun Nanxiang, an assistant researcher at the Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that Japan's insistence on "letting it go" will not only cause a greater wave of public opinion, but may also encounter surrounding neighbors. National boycott.
"The most urgent thing for Japan at the moment is to make the nuclear pollution data of the Fukushima nuclear power plant public through a third-party authoritative inspection agency, so as to eliminate international public opinion doubts and panic, and to provide support for international institutions and multinational experts." Li Kefei said, I want to To solve the problem, everyone has to discuss it.
If there is no solution through discussion, Sun Nanxiang reminds that neighboring countries may lead the international community to jointly resolve the issue through international law.
He stated that countries that have acceded to the London Dumping Convention and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea can apply for arbitration or litigation against Japan, which is also a contracting party, under the relevant framework, to prompt it to change its decision.
In addition, various countries also have domestic laws on marine protection, and they can also initiate litigation against Japan in accordance with relevant regulations.
Taking a step back, if nuclear sewage enters the sea as an established fact, countries affected by nuclear pollution can also require Japan to claim compensation in accordance with relevant international laws.
But unfortunately, compared to the impact of nuclear sewage on the ecological environment and the hidden dangers left by human descendants, no amount of compensation seems to help.
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