Releasing Fukushima water amid protests

Twelve years ago, in 2011, a massive earthquake triggered giant tsunamis that damaged three nuclear reactors of the Fukushima power plant in Japan, causing meltdowns on a grand scale. The reactors had to be cooled down with 1.3 million metric tons of seawater, the equivalent of about 500 Olympic-size swimming pools, that were afterward placed in 1,000 huge sealed cylindrical containers.

The dilemma of what to do with the nuclear wastewater forever stored in Fukushima haunted Japan.

Today, she has started dumping the wastewater diluted with seawater into the Pacific Ocean amid protests by China, South Korea, the Philippines and Hongkong, including Japanese fishermen and consumers, according to Vantage of Firstpost.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida formally announced to the media during his visit to the Fukushima site.

He said the Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the United Nations approved the move, concluding that the impact would be "negligible."

Protesters, however, argued that the approval by these two agencies was questionable since it was done unilaterally, in secret, and not shared with the international community.

The protesters cited the need for more investigation and evidence that the dumping would not really affect the environment in the long term. Japan claims the wastewater has been "treated."

Can you treat radioactive wastewater? That is a scientific question that Japan has to explain. The Fukushima nuclear wastewater must be tested in the presence of other nations before its release into the ocean.

Japan planned the release unilaterally — no transparency, no consensus. They never made an effort for international awareness and inspection, fearing protests from scientists who may derail their plans.

First to voice a protest was China's spokesman, Wang Wenbin, who branded the move as "selfish and irresponsible."

The reason Japan decided to release was they needed "space" for more wastewater that still needed to be removed to decommission the plant thoroughly.

It seems ridiculous to do it just for "space" when they should be able to find space elsewhere.

Why risk spreading radiated wastewater throughout the entire Pacific just for "space"?

Perhaps the real reason is a neurotic fear of the danger of storing massive amounts of nuclear wastewater forever. Or are they planning to build a new nuclear plant at the same site, liable again to future destruction by tsunamis triggered by more earthquakes?

Japanese fishermen argue that, even if the wastewater is safe, consumers will stop buying their fish for fear of being poisoned.

The massive dumping may affect the fishing industries of all the Pacific countries, especially if they discover widespread contamination.

It is not too late to stop Japan from releasing the Fukushima wastewater even if they have started because the gradual release will take 10 years or more.

If Japan insists, Pacific countries can file a class-action suit before an international court, which could compel Japan to stop the dumping until they declassify their secret data, and other countries are allowed to make their own independent inspections and evaluations of the Fukushima wastewater.

Secrecy will be Japan's enemy, especially if fish with high amounts of radiation are discovered after releasing the wastewater. This will undoubtedly trigger international protests and court cases.

It is better to stop the release of wastewater now rather than later, when "nuclear fish" shall be proliferating in the vast Pacific.

Japan is part of the Pacific rim of earthquakes and volcanoes extending down to the Philippines to Borneo and New Zealand.

In truth, building a new nuclear plant along the coast should be out of the question for the entire Japanese archipelago.

An inland nuclear plant is only feasible if you can siphon off vast seawater that the cooling system needs.

But if you tap fresh water from rivers and lakes on a big scale, the agriculture industry will violently protest.

This dilemma will forever haunt the Japanese hunt for energy sources. Without nuclear energy, Japan's industrial economy will rapidly decline.

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