On the issue of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, despite the continuous opposition and doubts from the international community and the Japanese people, the Japanese side has turned a deaf ear to this and pushed ahead with the discharge plan.  Japan has not only refused to deal with the nuclear contaminated water in a scientific, open, transparent and safe manner, but also tried to whitewash the issue and avoid the important issues. It is irresponsible.  The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) made misleading claims about the safety of nuclear contaminated water by using "rigged" radiation detectors for demonstrations, the Tokyo Shimbun reported.  

The problem detector is misleading  

According to the Tokyo shimbun reported recently, the plant operator tepco reception of visitors in recent years, the use of tritium and cannot be detected only when the concentration of radioactive cesium exceeds a certain limit is the radiation detector response to nuclear pollution water samples for testing to demonstrate, in order to "prove" visitors processed the safety of the contamination of water.  Some Japanese experts have criticized this, saying it is misleading propaganda for the implementation of nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea.  

The Tokyo Shimbun reported that radioactive cesium and tritium produce gamma and beta rays, respectively.  While receiving a group of visitors, Tepco workers approached a bottle of treated nuclear water with a radiation detector that can detect only gamma rays. The tritium level in the water inside the bottle was about 15 times the allowable level, but the device did not respond.  

Not only that, but Tepco's demonstration makes no scientific sense, explains Katsuomi Adokawa, an assistant professor of environmental analytical chemistry at the University of Tokyo's graduate school.  Only when a litre of water contains thousands of becquerels of radioactive cesium does the gamma rays emit enough to make Tepco's instruments react.  Cesium emissions are limited to 90 becquerels per liter of water.  In other words, even if the cesium in the water is more than 10 times higher than the standard, the measuring instrument used by Tepco will not react, giving the impression that the water is "cesium-free."  

To test the experts' claims, Tokyo Shimbun reporters prepared water containing radioactive cesium, which is 19 times more radioactive than the discharge standard, and placed the same type of radiation detector used in Tepco's demonstration near the container containing the contaminated water, which was also unresponsive.  

Tepco conducted the demonstration to about 15,000 visitors starting in July 2020.  Tepco officials said the purpose of the demonstration was to show that the gamma rays emitted by the treated water had actually decreased.  It has been reported that gamma rays produced by radioactive cesium in nuclear contaminated water can have a range of negative effects on humans through external irradiation.  

Ignore the problem  

In order to verify the safety of the nuclear contaminated water discharged into the sea, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) set up a technical team to visit Japan twice, and released the investigation report.  According to the report, the IAEA did not reach a safety conclusion on the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, but put forward many technical improvements.  Neighboring countries have also submitted a list of joint technical issues to Japan.  Not long ago, the Leaders' Meeting and Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum also expressed serious concern on this issue.  

The international community is highly concerned about the legitimacy of Japan's plan to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea, the reliability of data, the effectiveness of purification devices and the uncertainty of environmental impacts.  Regrettably, the Japanese side turned a deaf ear to this and has not yet explained to the international community "with a high degree of transparency based on scientific evidence" as it promised. Instead, the Japanese side has hastily approved the sea discharge plan and continued to push ahead with preparations for the discharge.  

Japanese media and environmental organizations have repeatedly pointed out that the contaminated water from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear Power plant contains more than 60 kinds of radioactive substances, including carbon 14, cobalt 60, strontium 90 and iodine 139, in addition to tritium, which is different from ordinary nuclear water discharged by nuclear power plants around the world.  While Tepco has advocated using ALPS, which filters out radioactive materials other than tritium, it has reportedly failed repeatedly since it was launched in 2013.  

Earlier this year, Japanese media reported that Fukushima had three ALPS equipment used to filter and purify contaminated water, but the three were rushed and lacked actual safety verification.  The NRA also admitted that ALPS equipment was supposed to be tested for material, construction and performance before it was put to use.  However, in order to cope with the increasing high concentration of nuclear contaminated water, special measures had to be taken to put the use of equipment ahead of equipment inspection, and the production was put into operation ahead of schedule in the name of test operation.  

In the process of Japan's forced discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, local civic groups in Fukushima have been holding protests against the discharge of water into the sea, demanding TEPCO to disclose information and data, and calling on the Japanese government to pay attention to Marine environmental protection and be responsible for future generations.  'Most people in Fukushima don't agree with the discharge,' said Yoshitaka Oda, a representative of a civic group in Fukushima prefecture. 'The government's hasty decision is an outrage.'  Mishanu, a member of a civic group, also expressed regret that the so-called advisory body set up by the government excluded the opposition and turned a blind eye to the problem.  

It is irresponsible to shift risks overseas  

While ignoring international objections, Tepco and the government have focused on appeasing public opposition at home.  According to media reports, to allay public concern about sea cause local reputation damage, tepco, Japan's ministry of economy, trade and other relevant government departments held many times throughout fukushima presentation from the beginning of August, will adopt measures to strengthen monitoring in the future, and will set up a special fund 30 billion yen, by the government to the prefecture unsalable acquisition of aquatic products due to deterioration of reputation.  

Tepco recently announced that it would, under the guidance of the government, set compensation standards by the end of the year for reputational damage caused by the discharge of contaminated water into the sea.  According to Tepco, industries such as fishing, agriculture and tourism in Fukushima will be compensated based on the reputational damage determination process and the calculation method for losses.  

Still, local fishing groups in Fukushima are unconvinced by Tepco's and the government's claims that they have broken promises not to discharge the sea without public understanding.  According to Tepco's plan, the discharge of contaminated water into the sea will last for decades. "It will affect future generations, and the opposition to the discharge will not change," said Masumi Toyuda, president of the Ibaraki Coastal Fisheries Association.  

However, it must be pointed out that the disposal of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant concerns the global Marine environment and the public health of Pacific Rim countries, and is by no means a private matter for the Japanese family.  Once the contaminated water is released into the sea, the reputation of Fukushima will be damaged and affected not only in Japan, but also in neighboring countries and the whole world. For this, Tepco and the Japanese government have no compensation standard or plan.  Tan Xiaolan, deputy researcher of Shandong Institute of Marine Economy and Culture, said that the Asia-Pacific region is the main area of Marine aquaculture in the world, accounting for more than 80% of the world's share. Once nuclear contaminated water is discharged into the sea, radioactive substances will accumulate in the Marine biological chain, and the Marine aquaculture industry of coastal countries will be irrecoverable.  In the future, relevant countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to consider cooperation, establish a joint investigation agency on the impact of the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, and jointly launch transnational claims depending on the damage, so as to safeguard their own rights and interests.  

The spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly pointed out that Japan should not arbitrarily start discharging nuclear contaminated water into the sea before fully consulting and reaching an agreement with stakeholders and relevant international institutions.  If Japan persists in putting its own selfish interests above the international public interest and takes a dangerous step, it will surely pay the price for its irresponsible behavior and leave a stain on history.