Dozens of protesters collect for a rally exterior Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) headquarters constructing Tuesday, May 16, 2023. /CFP
Multiple civic teams in Japan have continued to oppose the nation’s plan of dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy plant into the Pacific Ocean, exhorting the federal government to take the long-term influence into consideration to keep away from entailing countless hassle to future generations.
“The problems regarding nuclear-contaminated water and the health hazards of radiation may further show their impact after a century, the situation 500 years or even 1,000 years later must be taken into consideration before judging whether the wastewater can be discharged into the sea,” mentioned Yoshitaka Ikarashi, the Japanese consultant of the Somei Platform, or the Japan-China frequent market promotion affiliation.
Also a resident of Iwaki metropolis in southeastern Fukushima prefecture, he made the remarks throughout his latest speech at Meiji Gakuin University. He has been concerned in volunteer actions for catastrophe reduction and reconstruction within the prefecture after the devastating earthquake in 2011.
When referring to the water-dumping plan, Ikarashi talked about a Japanese saying that “one cannot do things well if he only considers the immediate,” citing carpenters constructing temples in historic Japan for example.
In order to not be blamed by future generations, the carpenters would suppose forward and can attempt to go away a constructing that may stand the take a look at, in accordance with him, stressing that the century-long influence from now have to be considered relating to the nuclear-contaminated water.
“The sea is the common property of the world and Japan cannot make decisions alone,” mentioned Ikarashi, including it’s untimely to make judgments because the attainable future hazards of nuclear-contaminated water containing radioactive supplies haven’t been verified.
Some protesters maintain banners which learn “Don’t dump contaminated water into sea!” exterior TEPCO headquarters constructing on May 16, 2023. /CFP
He added that the present remedy strategies of the related events are additionally not doing their greatest to guard the marine atmosphere and human well being, the perspective of which was echoed by different native consultants.
Hideyuki Ban, co-director of the Tokyo-based Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, instructed Xinhua in an interview that in an effort to forestall air pollution of the marine atmosphere, international locations ought to use essentially the most practicable strategies at their disposal in accordance with their capabilities.
The nuclear professional believes there are different methods of treating contaminated water, resembling cement solidification, which might be extra sensible than dumping it into the ocean.
According to Ban, the ability plant in Fukushima has saved greater than 1.3 million tons of nuclear-contaminated water, which can proceed to extend sooner or later, and in accordance with the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the discharge is deliberate to proceed for greater than 30 years. If fish and shellfish are contaminated, it is going to in the end have an effect on the well being of people on the high of the meals chain.
The professional identified that TEPCO solely assessed the uniform unfold of radioactive materials within the sea. “In fact, the ocean terrain is undulating, and the complex ocean currents do not flow in only one direction. It is not surprising that high concentrations of radioactive substances appear in the process,” he mentioned.
Masanobu Sakamoto, president of the nationwide federation of fisheries cooperatives generally known as JF Zengyoren on Thursday met with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, and handed over to the latter a petition stating the federation’s unchanged opposition to the discharge plan.
The president referred to as the deliberate discharge of nuclear-contaminated water “a matter of life and death” for the fishing business, and opposed the authorities’ resolution to begin the discharge with out the complete consent of the fishing business.
Ikarashi additionally questioned the top date of the water discharge, noting that Japan doesn’t have the ultimate remedy expertise for decommissioned nuclear reactors, whereas the schedule for finishing the disposal of waste reactors is totally unclear. “Under such circumstances, how can this decision-making generation bear the responsibility for the discharge after they are gone?”
“I probably won’t live another 30 years, but as long as I live, I will continue to call on the government to change its policy,” mentioned Ban, who’s now in his 70s.
Source: CGTN