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Japan's Fukushima wastewater harms world via trade, ocean current, food chain: expert
CGTN
01:38

On March 17, Japan activated specialized equipment essential for discharging radioactive Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

According to Luo Qingping, nuclear expert at the China Institute of Nuclear Industry Strategy, the nuclear-contaminated Fukushima Daiichi wastewater had direct exposure to the reactor core, so it contains massive amounts of more than 60 radioactive elements, including tritium. However, Japan has not conducted accurate, comprehensive testing for these elements, so if the contaminated water is dumped into the Pacific Ocean, they will accumulate inside marine animals dwelling in Japan's coastal waters, and they will take a toll on the world via ocean currents, food chains and the trade in marine products.

The Japanese government's insistence on discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean this spring and summer has stoked strong opposition and suspicion at home and abroad.

He said that Japan has not exhausted all other measures, fully disclosed information or carried our thorough coordination with its neighboring countries and international organizations, hence its dumping of contaminated water is extremely irresponsible.

"The first thing that Japan needs to do is to actively find a way to mitigate the environmental impact. They need to conduct thorough research and due diligence to come up with a safe and plausible nuclear-contaminated wastewater disposal plan. We believe that the Japanese government cannot just dump the water to save money, shirk its responsibility, and give no thought to the damage that the whole thing might have on the public and the environment," he added.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. An earthquake-triggered tsunami engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing core meltdowns in units one to three and leading to the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

The Japanese government decided in April 2021 that the contaminated would be released into the sea, claiming lack of space to set up more storage tanks.

(Cover image via screenshot)

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