Hideyuki Ban, a representative of the non-governmental organization Citizens’ Center for Nuclear Information, spoke about the danger of Tokyo’s plans to dump water from the damaged Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant into the sea. According to him, public organizations, associations of fishing artels, as well as local municipalities in Fukushima prefecture oppose the decision of the authorities.
For example, the Japanese government promises to dilute the water, in which radioactive tritium remained after all the purifications, before dumping it into the sea. The authorities clarify that the concentration of the substance is much lower than prescribed by Japanese and international regulations. However, the public continues to oppose the government’s plans to begin discharging water in 2023.
“Just diluting this water is not enough. When such an amount of radioactive elements is released into the environment, they will accumulate there and ultimately become a source of internal human exposure through food, “RIA Novosti quoted Hideyuki Bana on April 20.
His organization believes that even after cleaning in the ALPS system, there are other substances in the water – radioactive cesium, strontium, iodine.
Thirty public organizations, the All Japan Federation of Fishery Cooperative Associations, and the Fukushima, Miyagi and Ibaraki prefectural fishermen associations are against the discharge of water from Fukushima-1 into the sea. In Fukushima Prefecture, 41 municipalities expressed their negative opinion, accounting for about 70% of the total. Currently, 65 thousand international signatures have been collected against the government’s decision. In Japan itself, 450 thousand signatures were collected against the government’s decision.
For fishermen in Fukushima, it’s a matter of life and death, Hideyuki Ban said. The prefecture’s fisheries production is only 10% of what it was before the nuclear power plant accident 10 years ago. In the event of the discharge of radioactive substances, the fishermen will have to leave the profession.
During the accident at Fukushima-1, nuclear fuel melted at the first, second and third reactors. According to the Ministry of Industry of Japan, in the 1.25 million tons of water accumulated at the Fukushima-1 NPP there are 860 trillion becquerels of tritium. Before the accident, the station annually dumped water with a tritium content of 2.2 trillion into the sea.
The Japanese government made the decision to dump the water on April 13. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, expressed regret that Tokyo did not consult with Russia and neighboring states before the decision to discharge water from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant into the ocean. The Chinese and South Korean authorities are also concerned about this project. In their opinion, the discharge of radioactive water will negatively affect the environment and health of residents of neighboring states. The PRC announced its intention to discuss the environmental issue at the international level.