Japan's move is too pitfalls, overseas online reviews: Let nuclear contaminated water wear the vest of "water treatment" | Japanese government | vest

Data picture: On June 12th, people held up signs to participate in a rally in Seoul, South Korea, opposing Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, has recently started trial operation of equipment related to the discharge of contaminated water into the sea. The official preparations for the discharge may be completed as soon as this month. In order to smoothly promote the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, Japan's international public relations have spared no effort. For example, Japan has raised concerns about China's use of the term "nuclear contaminated water," claiming that the planned discharge of tritium containing "treated water" is safe. The trick Japan came up with to put nuclear contaminated water in the guise of "treating water" is really clumsy and ridiculous.

Since the official decision to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea in April 2021, the Japanese government has not only continuously promoted the relevant preparation process, but also actively used various methods to conduct international public relations and promote the "safety" and "compliance" of nuclear contaminated water. In April 2021, the Japanese government created a "mascot" for radioactive material "tritium" in an attempt to downplay people's concerns and anxieties through a cute and cute cartoon character. During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Japanese government specifically supplied Fukushima produced ingredients to canteens catering to foreign athletes to promote the safety of Fukushima food. In May of this year, the Japanese government specially prepared agricultural and aquatic products from Fukushima Prefecture during the G7 Hiroshima Summit for foreign dignitaries and journalists attending the summit, in order to promote further understanding of nuclear contaminated water discharge plans among countries. In addition, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not forget to emphasize the "safety" and "compliance" of nuclear contaminated water during bilateral talks with leaders from Micronesia, Cook Islands, and Palau this year.

However, no matter how clever international public relations are, nuclear contaminated water cannot be washed away. In the past two years, the Japanese government has repeatedly referred to the nuclear contaminated water treated by the multi nuclide purification system as "treated water", emphasizing that the "treated water" has reached the standard and can be discharged. However, the international community has always been skeptical about the performance and efficiency of ALPS's long-term high load operation, especially the Japanese side acknowledging that ALPS malfunctioned shortly after operation, with over 70% of the radioactive nuclide activity in the treated nuclear contaminated water exceeding the emission limit. Nuclear contaminated water contains over 60 types of radioactive nuclides, many of which have not yet been effectively treated. Some long-lived nuclides may diffuse with ocean currents and form bioaccumulation effects. Considering that Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea will last for 30 years, once officially discharged, the harm to global marine ecology and human health and well-being is incalculable. The joint representative of Japan's organization against nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea, Chiyoshi Oda, stated that once nuclear contaminated water is discharged into the sea, there will be more and more fish with excessive radioactive elements in the future. If emissions continue like this every day, they will definitely accumulate on the seabed. The cumulative calculated amount of radioactive elements has not been released yet, which is very concerning. We hope that the plan to discharge them into the sea will be terminated immediately.

In fact, the negative impact of the Japanese government's strong push for nuclear contaminated water to be discharged into the sea is spreading. On June 14th, Asahi Shimbun reported on a scene that occurred during this year's Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore: On June 3rd, Japanese Defense Minister Yasuhiro Hamada discussed with the defense ministers of Sweden and Fiji on stage. The first question Hamada answered on that day was not related to defense, but rather a question raised by a Fiji participant regarding the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea. As soon as Hamada's speech came to an end, Fiji's Minister of Interior and Immigration, Tikodou Abdullah, who was sitting nearby, angrily criticized Japan, saying, "If Japan says nuclear wastewater is safe, why doesn't it keep it?" In recent years, Japan has actively strengthened its relations with South Pacific island countries in order to cooperate with the United States' Indo Pacific strategy deployment, especially Fiji, which is still a target country for Japan's "government security capability enhancement support" that provides defense equipment. However, South Pacific countries, including Fiji, have always been concerned about Japan's nuclear contaminated water issue, which is not a positive factor for the development of bilateral relations. According to an analysis by Asahi Shimbun, "If Japan forcibly releases nuclear contaminated water in the context of concerns, it will only harm the trust of South Pacific Island in Japan. If South Pacific Island believes that 'Japan ultimately only considers itself', then this will cast a shadow over the Kishida government's diplomatic efforts to strengthen cooperation with the 'global south'. Emissions are not limited to domestic use, but should also be carefully considered for their impact on diplomatic security. Just as the release of nuclear contaminated water into the sea will affect global marine ecology, the negative impact of the Japanese government's insistence on emissions will inevitably spill over to various fields such as foreign relations.".

The marine environment is related to the overall interests of the international community, and the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea is not the responsibility of Japan alone. Japan should faithfully fulfill its international obligations, stop forcefully promoting sea discharge plans, fully study and demonstrate disposal plans beyond sea discharge, effectively dispose of nuclear contaminated water in a scientific, safe, and transparent manner, and accept strict international supervision.

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