Protestors against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean march on the streets of Fiji's capital city Suva, August 25, 2023. /CFP
"Japan, I am angry!" "Keep our Pacific nuclear-free!" On Friday, hundreds of Fijian people marched on the streets of the capital city of Suva, raising their voices strongly against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
The protesters, led by the Fiji non-government organization Coalition on Human Rights, called for international action to halt Tokyo's move to protect the ocean and future generations.
Despite widespread denunciation at home and abroad, Japan on Thursday started discharging nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
"This is a horrendous and horrible move by Japan," said Lusia Lagilevo, a protester from Citizens' Constitutional Forum. "It's a disrespect to our rights as human beings."
"Although we are from small island countries, we still deserve to have our rights, our dignity and our freedoms respected," Lagilevo added.
Lavetanalagi Seru, co-founder of Alliance for Future Generations, said the Pacific has had a history of nuclear testing, and the people in the Marshall Islands are still grappling with the enduring aftermath of nuclear contamination.
The Marshall Islands' history bears the indelible scars of 67 nuclear bomb tests conducted by the United States from 1946 to 1958.
"We can't allow history to repeat itself, as we depend on the ocean for our livelihoods. It's a source of economic opportunities for many of us," Seru said, adding that the impact and the scientific evidence is not yet clear and strong enough to convince them that it's safe.
Environmental radiation levels above safety limits detected near the plant
Hours before Japan began dumping the nuclear-contaminated water, high environmental radiation levels were recorded near the plant. At a distance of 1.5 kilometers from the nuclear power plant, a reporter from China Media Group (CMG) recorded high radiation levels of 1.7 microsieverts per hour (µSv/h).
High radiation levels of 1.7 microsieverts per hour were recorded near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. /CMG
The global average of radiation present in the natural environment ranges from 0.17 to 0.39 µSv/hr, according to the World Nuclear Association. Also, a report published in the journal Physics in Nuclear Medicine said that for individual members of the public, radiation levels in unrestricted areas should deliver a radiation dose of less than 0.5 µSv/hr, assuming continuous occupation of the area.
The radiation levels of 1.7 µSv/h detected near the nuclear plant are undoubtedly above the safety levels.
Hit by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which is now being stored in about 1,000 storage tanks.
The Fukushima plant has stored more than 1.3 million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater, and the discharge is planned to continue for more than 30 years, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the plant.
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(With input from agencies)