China News Service, July 22 (Reporter Zhang Aolin) On the 22nd local time, the Japan Atomic Energy Regulation Commission officially approved the nuclear polluted water discharge plan after the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, believing that there is no safety issue.
There are constant oppositions at home and abroad about the discharge of pollutants into the sea, but the Japanese government and Tektronix announced the plan for more than a year, intending to pass on its own crisis to the international community. How to supervise after the pollution discharge begins is a major problem.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant nuclear sewage discharge facility partial structure diagram. Image source: Video screenshot of Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK)
"The longer the time, the more favorable it is"
According to the plan, nuclear sewage will be diluted with seawater, temporarily stored in the shaft and confirmed the concentration, and then discharged about 1 kilometer offshore through the undersea tunnel.
In fact, Tektronix began construction near of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in April, but it was claimed that it was only carrying out preparation projects. The Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission endorsed TSE's pollution discharge plan in May, and the outside world believes that Japan's nuclear regulator "showed the green light" on the pollution discharge plan.
Data map: Nuclear sewage storage tank of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
Japan Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Researcher Lu Yaodong In an interview with China News Service, the Japanese government supports TDD's plan, and the pollution discharge will eventually be carried out by the government and enterprises.
After the "311" earthquake in 2011, Tektronix temporarily stored in the water storage tank in order to cool down a large amount of nuclear sewage generated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was melted due to the earthquake core. Since the Japanese government no longer intends to build more water storage tanks, its reserves will reach their limit around November 2022.
In fact, nuclear sewage could have been better treated. The Japanese government has formulated a variety of plans for solid burial into the ground, evaporation and emissions to the ocean. Among them, it is obviously better to solidify the nuclear sewage and bury it underground, but the cost is dozens or even hundreds of times that of the sea discharge.
Data map: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan.
The emission timeline announced by Japan is also intriguing. TD Power will start comprehensively building nuclear sewage discharge facilities after obtaining approval from local governments, and the pollutant discharge plan is expected to be launched in spring 2023. Although the announcement was April 2021, it would take two years to prepare. Some analysts pointed out that this is actually a delay, and hope that the international community will default to the decision as a fait accompli.
Lu Yaodong believes that in addition to technical coordination, the Japanese government and Tektronix also have some concerns about opposition at home and abroad. The longer the time goes, the more beneficial it will be to them.
"The lack of regulation"
According to the Japanese government, once the pollutant discharge begins, it will last for at least 30 years. According to data released by Tektronix, Fukushima nuclear sewage contains 63 types of radioactive substances . TD.com believes that after treatment, except for the "tritium" that cannot be completely removed, most of the radioactive element in nuclear sewage can be removed.
Data photo: Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company used a tubular device with a camera on the front end to capture the nuclear residue inside the unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
However, the report of the German Greenpeace Organization shows that the technology currently adopted by Japan cannot treat strontium-90 and carbon-14 in nuclear wastewater. The two radionuclides have half-life 50 years and 5730 years respectively, which is more harmful than "tritium".
professor at Ocean University of China pointed out in an interview with China News Service that the discharge of nuclear waste into the sea will definitely have an impact on fisheries, marine environment and human health. However, due to factors such as emission density, degree and seawater flow, dynamic monitoring is difficult. At the same time, to understand the degree of pollution to organisms, specific and long-term experiments must be carried out. And Japan caught this loophole.
For subsequent monitoring, Jin Yongming believes that there is currently a lack of supervision for nuclear sewage emissions internationally. He pointed out that although a multi-country multidisciplinary expert group based on International Atomic Energy Agency can be established to check, even if such an organization is established, the investigation reports it releases are not mandatory.
International Law lack of supervision, coupled with the relatively low cost of emissions into the sea, Japan finally chose the "shortcut" that saves time, effort and money. Jin Yongming concluded that the essence of this plan is to "transform from one pollution to another, from pollution in one place to pollution in many places."
insists on promoting
Since the Japanese government announced its plan to discharge pollutants into the sea, the opposition from the "party" Fukushima has never stopped.
Data picture: Japanese people gathered to protest the Japanese government’s nuclear sewage discharge plan.
According to a questionnaire survey conducted by the Fukushima Ninja in April, 44 of the 59 local officials in Fukushima Prefecture believe that the plan has not been understood by local people. The newspaper pointed out that if these numbers are not improved, the negative effects it will "will be inevitable."
Fisheries occupy an important position in Japan, but the plan to discharge pollutants and seas has put this industry in a severe crisis. When meeting with Hiroshi Kishi and Tetsuyaki, the President of the National Fisheries Federation of Japan, Naganozaki, the President of the Fukushima Fisheries Federation of Japan in April, he said with a tough attitude that "we firmly oppose pollutant discharge into the sea, and this position has not wavered at all."
Since there are only about 9 months left before the launch of the pollutant discharge plan, NHK also pointed out in the report that how to advance the plan amid strong opposition from local people and fishery practitioners is a major problem faced by the Japanese government and Tektronix.
In this regard, Lu Yaodong believes that the Japanese central government supports the pollution discharge plan very much, but also has to worry about local interest groups. He pointed out that the Japanese government will definitely continue to convince the Fukushima local autonomous system and the Fisheries Association, while steadily advancing the plan, and should not postpone the start of pollutant discharge.
Data picture: In April 2021, after Japan announced its nuclear sewage discharge plan, a large supermarket in Seoul, South Korea hung slogans such as "Boycott Japanese goods". Photo by Zeng Nai, China News Service reporter
"One of the greatest nuclear disasters of our era"
The international community, including China and South Korea, has expressed dissatisfaction and concerns many times about Japan's nuclear sewage discharge. In May, when Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fang was visiting Fiji and Palau , a non-governmental organization called " Pacific Community " even described Japan's pollution discharge into the sea as "one of the greatest nuclear disasters of our era" and urged Japan to reconsider its pollution discharge plan.
However, the Japanese government is determined to act and keeps moving. Although it is actively in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the surface, it has not yet made sufficient and credible explanations on the legitimacy of the plan, the reliability of nuclear contaminated water data and the effectiveness of the purification device.
Regarding Japan's approach, Lu Yaodong believes that the Japanese government is trying to use the crisis public relations method to resolve international criticism, including strengthening ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but in fact, it still hopes that it will endorse the pollutant discharge behavior.
Lu Yaodong further pointed out that as of now, the actions taken by Japan are actually only to resolve the possible negative impact of Japan's national image, and have not taken into account the international community, nor have they considered the issue from the perspective of the impact of pollutant discharge on the entire marine environment and the relations of neighboring countries, as well as the common interests of the entire region.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on July 22 that Japan has always turned a deaf ear to the legitimate concerns and reasonable demands of the international community and the people in Japan. Not only did it not conduct full and meaningful consultations with stakeholders and relevant international institutions, it has been deliberately promoting the construction of the sea-disk pipeline and the sea-disk plan approval work. Japan's practice of disregarding the concerns of all parties and attempting to create established facts is extremely irresponsible, and we firmly oppose this. The disposal of Fukushima nuclear polluted water concerns the global marine environment and the public health of Pacific Rim countries, and is by no means a private matter for Japan.
Wang Wenbin pointed out that China once again urges Japan to fulfill its international obligations, dispose of nuclear-polluted water in a scientific, open, transparent and safe manner, stop pushing out the sea discharge plan, and shall not initiate nuclear-polluted water discharge without authorization until full consultation with stakeholders and relevant international institutions and reach an agreement.If the Japanese side insists on putting its own personal interests above the international public interests and insists on taking a dangerous step, it will definitely pay the price for its irresponsible behavior and leave historical stains. (End)
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