China slams Japan’s decision on nuclear waste as ‘irresponsible’
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday expressed grave concern about Japan’s decision to discharge nuclear wastewater from Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement that the Fukushima nuclear accident is one of the most serious in world history. The leak of large amounts of radioactive materials has had far-reaching implications on the marine environment, food safety and human health.
A review report by the International Atomic Energy Agency expert team points out that if the wastewater containing tritium from the Fukushima nuclear plant is discharged into the sea, it will affect the marine environment and people’s health of neighboring countries and that the treated wastewater needs to be further purified to remove other radionuclides.
The spokesperson said that despite doubts and opposition from home and abroad, Japan has unilaterally decided to release the Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea before exhausting all safe ways of disposal and without fully consulting with neighboring countries and the international community.
“This is highly irresponsible and will severely affect human health and the immediate interests of people in neighboring countries,” said the spokesperson.
Noting that oceans are mankind’s shared property, the spokesperson said how the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is handled is not merely a domestic issue for Japan.
The spokesperson said China strongly urges the Japanese side to face up to its responsibility, follow the science, fulfill its international obligations and duly respond to the serious concerns of the international community, neighboring countries and its own people.
The spokesperson called on the Japanese side to reevaluate the issue and refrain from wantonly discharging the wastewater before reaching consensus with all stakeholders and the IAEA through full consultations.
“China will continue to watch closely the developments of the matter together with the international community and reserves the right to make further reactions,” the spokesperson said.
The first release of water will take place in about two years, giving plant operator Tokyo Electric Power time to begin filtering the water to remove harmful isotopes, build infrastructure and acquire regulatory approval.
Japan has argued the water release is necessary to press ahead with the complex decommissioning of the plant after it was crippled by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It says similarly filtered water is routinely released from nuclear plants around the world.
“The Japanese government’s decision is in line with practice globally, even though the large amount of water at the Fukushima plant makes it a unique and complex case,” IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi said yesterday, promising to work with Japan throughout the process.
Nearly 1.3 million tons of contaminated water, or enough to fill about 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools, is stored in huge tanks at the plant at an annual cost of about 100 billion yen (US$912.66 million) — and space is running out.
“Releasing the ... treated water is an unavoidable task to decommission the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant and reconstruct the Fukushima area,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said of the process that will take decades to complete.
Fishing unions in Fukushima have urged the government for years not to release the water, arguing it would have a “catastrophic impact” on the industry.
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