The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 resulted in over one million metric tons of contaminated water. Currently, environmentalists such as Greenpeace are worried about the Japanese government's plans to release the stored water into the Pacific Ocean.
In December 2019, Greenpeace nuclear specialist Shaun Burnie said that decisions regarding the release of the contaminated water into the ocean or atmosphere are a huge threat to the people of Fukushima, the fishermen, and the local ecosystems. Greenpeace has also warned that the contaminated water contains radioactive carbon which can potentially damage the DNA upon exposure.
For years, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), who owns the nuclear plant, has been storing water used to cool fuel cores at the plant. However, they are running out of storage space, which will be filled by 2022, and would need to dispose of the stored water soon. Alongside local authorities and the environment minister, the company said that the only solution is to release the stored water into the Pacific.
Radioactive Damage to DNA
Since the water contains dangerous levels of radioactive isotopes, the dumping process will take several decades to be diluted with clean seawater before being released into the ocean. Japanese officials said that the diluting process would bring the contaminated water to a safe level of radioactive isotopes.
Greenpeace is most worried about radioactive isotope carbon-14, known to damage the DNA. Burnie said that the harmful isotope and many others such as tritium are one of the many reasons "why these plans have to be abandoned."
TEPCO spokesperson Ryounosuke Takanori said that the contaminated water after treatment will not affect the health even if two liters of it are consumed daily. He assured that there will be a secondary treatment according to regulatory standards for contaminants other than radioactive materials.
Claire Corkhill from the University of Sheffield explained that for years, companies have released tritium into oceans around the world, impacting marine life. A recent analysis of the TEPCO water had high levels of radioactivity such as carbon-14 and technetium-99.
Read Also: Reprocessing of Spent Nuclear Fuel Makes Them Less Lethal, Cleaner Alternative to Fossil Fuels
Concerns of Local Fisheries
Professor Francis Livens from the University of Manchester said that radioactive contaminants in the water would most likely have risks associated with the environment and health. Moreover, nuclear waste discharged into the oceans enters marine food chains which are eventually consumed by people.
The local fishermen also expressed their concerns over the nuclear waste being dumped into the sea. JF Zengyoren, the federation of Japan's fisheries cooperatives, said that the "release of contaminated water to the ocean as it could have a catastrophic impact on the future of Japan's fishing industry."
Toshihito Ono from Fukushima said that they "vigorously oppose" TEPCO's plans of releasing contaminated water into the sea. It would cause reputational damage and have other countries enforce restrictions on imported fish from Japan. In the meantime, the government has postponed deciding on what to do with the stored contaminated water.
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