Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Comparing contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant to the normal operation and drainage of a nuclear power plant goes against scientific knowledge | Report | Fukushima, Japan
Beijing, July 11th (Xinhua) - Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin, stated on July 11th that it goes against scientific common sense to make a simple analogy between Japan's Fukushima nuclear contaminated water, which is uncertain whether it can meet the standard, and the normal operation of the nuclear power plant's drainage. If someone believes that the contaminated water from Fukushima nuclear power plant is drinkable and swimable, it is recommended that Japan provide the contaminated water for their use instead of discharging it into the sea.
At the regular press conference on the same day, a reporter asked: According to reports, during his recent visits to South Korea and New Zealand, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly made controversial statements such as that the "treated water" of the Fukushima nuclear power plant can be consumed and used for swimming, and is no more dangerous than the drainage of other countries' nuclear power plants. In addition, many nuclear experts, including those involved in the evaluation work, have recently expressed different opinions on this matter. May I ask if the spokesperson has any comments on this?
Wang Wenbin said that recent media reports have shown that the comprehensive evaluation report of the International Atomic Energy Agency is controversial, and the experts involved in the evaluation have expressed different opinions, which is an indisputable fact. "This once again indicates that the agency hastily issued a report on the complex issue of nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea, and the relevant conclusions have limitations and one-sidedness, failing to address the international community's concerns about the Fukushima nuclear contaminated water discharge plan. The Japanese side cannot use the agency report as a 'passport' for discharge into the sea."
"I would like to point out once again that it is against scientific common sense to make a simple analogy between Japan's Fukushima nuclear contaminated water, which is uncertain whether it can meet the standard, and the normal operation drainage of the nuclear power plant. The two have essential differences: first, the source is different, second, the types of radioactive nuclides contained are different, and third, the difficulty of treatment is different." Wang Wenbin said that Japan's Fukushima nuclear contaminated water comes from the cooling water injected into the damaged reactor core after the accident, as well as the groundwater and rainwater that seep in, including various radioactive nuclides released from the damaged core, which is not the same thing as the normal drainage of the nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency has not evaluated the effectiveness and long-term reliability of Japan's nuclear contaminated water purification equipment, and cannot guarantee that all nuclear contaminated water will be treated to meet standards for the next 30 years. The impact of long-term discharge into the sea on the marine environment and food safety cannot be easily concluded by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"If anyone believes that Fukushima nuclear contaminated water can be consumed and swam, we suggest that Japan make good use of the contaminated water for these people to drink or swim, instead of discharging it into the sea, which concerns the international community," said Wang Wenbin.