No. 1319 Dumping of Nuclear Waste Water into Ocean
The government and Tepco, or Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the destroyed Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, are ready, by any means, to dump nuclear waste water, a by-product of the accident, into the Pacific Ocean: the water was used to cool debris of the fuel rods following meltdown of the reactors. The two parties have agreements with local fishermen and relevant industry people. The government and Tepco must not annul the pledges to contaminate the ocean.
GOVERNMENT AND TEPCO MUST ABANDON THE PLAN IMMEDIATELY
A cheap and easy option
The plan to release contaminated nuclear waste water into the ocean was presented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in May, 2016, as one of the five options on processing the waste water: it issued a paper, called the Report from Taskforce on Water Containing Tritium. The five choices are geological disposal, release into the ocean, vapor emission, hydrogen evolution and underground burying.
The Ministry estimated a total cost for disposal into the layers as 243.1 billion yen. Meanwhile a release into the ocean was the cheapest, accounting 3.4 billion yen. It figured out time to be needed as seven years and four months, suggesting the method as the most suitable way. The government and Tepco employed the assessment as the basis.
Viable to government and operator
The selection of ocean disposal has a background; there lie policies of the government and the electric power company to endorse the plan to complete decommission of the Fukushima-Daiichi NPP in 40 years. Tepco complacently says ‘it is impossible to continue increasing tanks. Concerning tritium to be released, the environment and public health will hardly be impacted’.
The government and the operator emphasize safety, taking advantage of ‘the approval’ from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as if it were accreditation, which says that ‘the ocean release will have negligible radiological impact on people and the environment’ in the Comprehensive Report which was announced on July 4.
The IAEA, however, is an international organization to encourage nuclear energy generation and to prohibit a military use of this kind of energy (development of nuclear weapons), and therefore it cannot objectively appraise issues on the environment of the Earth and marine contamination. In addition, the IAEA puts a reservation clause onto the report, saying that IAEA does not necessarily recommend or support the ocean discharge option’.
No walls in oceans
Every country has its territorial water, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which includes the said water and zone, extending to 370 km from the borders. Oceans have no walls. Once the contaminated waste water is discharged, it proliferates to the seas of the entire world.
Oceans are not a place to dump the waste water of Japan. According to the worldwide opinion polls held twice on the internet by China Global Television Network (CGTN), 94.85% of the respondents harshly accuse Japan as ‘extremely unresponsible’ which defies concerns and objections of the international community.
Don’t scrap the pledge!
In August 2015, an agreement was reached between the METI and the Fukushima Fishermen’s Union, which says about ‘respectful explanations and commitments of the authority to people concerned’ and another was done between the union and the company, ‘without understanding of the relevant people, waste water will not be disposed, the treated water will be stored in the tanks located in the premise of the nuclear power plant’.
Under these circumstances Minister of METI, Nishimura Yasutoshi, had a meeting in July with fishermen of Fukushima Prefecture, but they have resolutely kept their stance of ‘opposition’, though the minister was confident enough with the authorization of the IAEA. The government and Tepco must immediately abandon the plan to dump radioactive waste water to the ocean.
政府と東電はこの夏、事故を起こした福島第一原発の核燃料デブリを冷却した放射能汚染水の海洋放出を強行する構えだ。地元漁民や関係者との約束をホゴにし、海を汚染する暴挙は許されない。
安価で安易な選択
放射能汚染水の海洋投棄は、16年５月に経産省が「トリチウム水タスクフォース報告書」で、汚染水の処理に関わる５つの選択肢の一つとして示した。５つは地層注入、海洋放出、水蒸気放出、水素放出、地下埋設だ。
地層処分は諸コスト合計で２４３１億円と試算。これに対し海洋放出が最も安価（34億円）で、７年４カ月で完了する最適な方法とし、政府・東電はこれを根拠とした。
政府・東電の都合
海洋放出の背景には、福島第一原発の廃炉完了を40年とし、これに合わせた政府・東電の施策がある。東電は汚染水について「これ以上タンクを増やし続けることはできない。放出するトリチウムは環境や人体への影響はほとんどない」とうそぶく。そして政府・東電は、国際原子力機関（ＩＡＥＡ）の７月４日の調査報告書、「人や環境への影響は無視できるほど」が、安全性の「お墨付き」のように宣伝している。
だが、ＩＡＥＡは原発推進、原子力の軍事利用（核開発）の防止目的の国際機関であり、地球環境や海洋汚染問題を客観的に評価することはできない。また、「海洋放出の方針も推奨、支持するものでもない」と留保をつけている。
海流に「壁」はない
各国には「領海」と「接続水域」、これらを含めた３７０㌔の排他的経済水域(ＥＥＺ) がある。だが、大海に壁はなく、一度放出された汚染水は、地球上の海に拡散する。
海洋は日本の汚染水を流す捨て場ではない。また、中国国際電視台の世界規模の２回のネット世論調査では、回答者の94・85％が、国際社会の懸念や反対を無視し、日本は「極めて無責任」と強く非難している。
約束ホゴ許されぬ
15年８月、経産省と福島県漁連は「関係者への丁寧な説明と取り組み」また、東電は「関係者の理解なしにはいかなる処分もおこなわず、処理水は発電所敷地内のタンクの貯留」と約束を交わした。
そんな中、ＩＡＥＡの「お墨付き」を錦の御旗に西村康稔経済産業相が７月、福島県内の漁業者と面会したが、漁業関係者は「反対」の立場を堅持している。政府・東電は汚染水の海洋放出を即刻断念すべきだ。
英訳版↓
No. 1319 Dumping of Nuclear Waste Water into Ocean
The government and Tepco, or Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the destroyed Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, are ready, by any means, to dump nuclear waste water, a by-product of the accident, into the Pacific Ocean: the water was used to cool debris of the fuel rods following meltdown of the reactors. The two parties have agreements with local fishermen and relevant industry people. The government and Tepco must not annul the pledges to contaminate the ocean.
GOVERNMENT AND TEPCO MUST ABANDON THE PLAN IMMEDIATELY
A cheap and easy option
The plan to release contaminated nuclear waste water into the ocean was presented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in May, 2016, as one of the five options on processing the waste water: it issued a paper, called the Report from Taskforce on Water Containing Tritium. The five choices are geological disposal, release into the ocean, vapor emission, hydrogen evolution and underground burying.
The Ministry estimated a total cost for disposal into the layers as 243.1 billion yen. Meanwhile a release into the ocean was the cheapest, accounting 3.4 billion yen. It figured out time to be needed as seven years and four months, suggesting the method as the most suitable way. The government and Tepco employed the assessment as the basis.
Viable to government and operator
The selection of ocean disposal has a background; there lie policies of the government and the electric power company to endorse the plan to complete decommission of the Fukushima-Daiichi NPP in 40 years. Tepco complacently says ‘it is impossible to continue increasing tanks. Concerning tritium to be released, the environment and public health will hardly be impacted’.
The government and the operator emphasize safety, taking advantage of ‘the approval’ from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as if it were accreditation, which says that ‘the ocean release will have negligible radiological impact on people and the environment’ in the Comprehensive Report which was announced on July 4.
The IAEA, however, is an international organization to encourage nuclear energy generation and to prohibit a military use of this kind of energy (development of nuclear weapons), and therefore it cannot objectively appraise issues on the environment of the Earth and marine contamination. In addition, the IAEA puts a reservation clause onto the report, saying that IAEA does not necessarily recommend or support the ocean discharge option’.
No walls in oceans
Every country has its territorial water, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which includes the said water and zone, extending to 370 km from the borders. Oceans have no walls. Once the contaminated waste water is discharged, it proliferates to the seas of the entire world.
Oceans are not a place to dump the waste water of Japan. According to the worldwide opinion polls held twice on the internet by China Global Television Network (CGTN), 94.85% of the respondents harshly accuse Japan as ‘extremely unresponsible’ which defies concerns and objections of the international community.
Don’t scrap the pledge!
In August 2015, an agreement was reached between the METI and the Fukushima Fishermen’s Union, which says about ‘respectful explanations and commitments of the authority to people concerned’ and another was done between the union and the company, ‘without understanding of the relevant people, waste water will not be disposed, the treated water will be stored in the tanks located in the premise of the nuclear power plant’.
Under these circumstances Minister of METI, Nishimura Yasutoshi, had a meeting in July with fishermen of Fukushima Prefecture, but they have resolutely kept their stance of ‘opposition’, though the minister was confident enough with the authorization of the IAEA.
The government and Tepco must immediately abandon the plan to dump radioactive waste water to the ocean.
August 16, 2023