Nuclear energy has long been referred to as an efficient source of power, but it also comes with concerns regarding waste. As such, Japan has decided to push through with its decision to start dumping wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
Nuclear Plant Wastewater
Japan has already started releasing wastewater coming from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant despite backlash from China and North Korea. The wastewater would be unloaded into the Pacific Ocean.
In retaliation to the decision, China has decided to halt seafood importation coming from Japan while expressing concerns regarding the wastage. The wastewater is expected to total around 540 Olympic swimming pools.
The water had previously been sitting for several decades, with the decision to dump it into the Pacific Ocean. The dumping of wastewater comes 12 years after one of the worst nuclear accidents in Japan, with the Fukushima nuclear plant still considered highly dangerous.
This comes after repeated insistence from Japan that the wastewater isn't harmless and has already been treated. This claim was also supported by the UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Safe Wastewater
The IAEA said they conducted tests on-site and can confirm that it was indeed safe when it came to radioactive tritium levels. Despite this, China has expressed its concerns regarding the dumping of waste in the Pacific Ocean.
China said that Japan was "extremely selfish" and said that dumping wastewater would cause contamination of the ocean. They then decided to ban imports of all Japanese seafood due to the "risk of radioactive contamination."
The foreign ministry of North Korea has also expressed similar sentiments, criticizing the decision of Japan to release the wastewater. They had also urged the country to call off their plan to dump the waste.
The decision was also met with local criticism from fishermen, with 10 people protesting close to the Fukushima facility. There were also 100 other people gathered outside the headquarters of TEPCO, located in Tokyo, to voice out their concerns.
Meltdown Events
The Fukushima-Daiichi facility has three reactors and is located in northeastern Japan. In 2011, a massive earthquake hit the country which resulted in 18,000 deaths and the meltdown of the facility.
Ever since then, 1.34 million cubic meters of water have been collected by TEPCO from the contaminated wreckage of the reactors. The company was also able to collect contaminated groundwater and rain that could've also been carrying contaminants from the meltdown.
Japan maintains that the water has been filtered out of radioactive elements except tritium, with low levels which are considered harmless. However, Greenpeace, an environmental group, says that there are flaws in the filtration process.
Other suggestions from Russia and China regarding the wastewater is that it be vaporized instead of dumped into the Pacific Ocean. Despite the suggestions, Japan will push through its plans and will release the wastewater in four batches until March 2024.
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