3rd- party supervision of radioactive water dumping urged China, Russia, South Korea condemn wastewater release
Chinese nuclear power industry insiders on Wednesday urged third- party supervision to ensure every drop of the radioactive water that Japan's Fukushima dumps into the ocean conforms to standards, given the previous infamous record of the Japanese nuclear power operator in handling the nuclear accident and the density of radioactive substances in the wastewater.
Chinese insiders made such an appeal at the ongoing China Nuclear Energy Sustainable Development Forum held in Beijing on Wednesday.
It is normal in nuclear activities to generate wastewater and to depose it after treatment under universal standards, but dumping radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant which recorded the highest- level nuclear accident is completely different, Chinese insiders said.
The claimed treated water stored in Fukushima tanks still possess dozens of radioactive substances that cannot be removed. Because the seawater that was used to cool down nuclear reactors in the 2011 disaster was also directly exposed to nuclear fuel, making it more serious in both density and amounts of radioactive substances, said Gui Liming, an expert on nuclear safety at Tsinghua University.
The scenario is totally another story for the wastewater from a normally operated nuclear power plant, where wastewater normally generates from daily maintenance and valve switch. After repeated dilution and treatment, few radioactive substances would be left before the wastewater is discharged, Gui said.
Dumping Fukushima's radioactive water into the ocean is a matter of concern for not only Japan but also all neighboring countries. We have to ensure the discharge is carried out under the thirdparty supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency and to make sure filtration capability and data of TEPCO's ALPS ( Advanced Liquid Processing System) is always under supervision, a nuclear power industry insider working with a leading Chinese nuclear power company on condition of anonymity told the Global Times on Wednesday.
China and other countries neighboring Japan expressed grave concern to the Japanese government's decision of dumping Fukushima radioactive water into the ocean.
China and South Korea on Wednesday expressed firm opposition to Japan's decision to dump nuclear wastewater into the sea, at the first meeting of China- South Korea dialogue on maritime affairs mechanism held via video link. The two countries urged Japan to consult international organizations and neighboring countries, and carefully deal with the wastewater issue.
Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed its great concerns over the issue in a statement on its website late Tuesday. It urged Japan to be transparent and to inform relevant countries over the radiation threats. Russia also hopes Japan to further explain its decision and allow external monitoring of the radiation.
“The ocean is not Japan's garbage can, and the Pacific is not Japan's sewer,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Wednesday.
Zhao raised three questions to the Japanese government at the press conference: Has Japan really considered the doubts and concerns at home and abroad? Is the move really in accordance with international law? And, does the radioactive wastewater to be dumped to the ocean really meet international standards?
China reserves the right to make a further response, he noted.
According to Zhao, some lawmakers from Japan's ruling party said the decision was ill- considered, as the radioactive water should be stored for a long time rather than dumping it. Also, the Japan Fisheries Association said in a statement of protest that the decision would be a “heavy blow” to Japan's fishing industry and absolutely unacceptable.
On Tuesday, Tokyo, Fukushima and other areas in Japan witnessed street protests where local residents held signs such as “The ocean is crying, the fish are crying, and the earth is crying.”
In addition to China, South Korea, Russia and the EU, another 311 environmental groups expressed their firm opposition to the Japanese government's decision, Zhao said.
Zhao stressed that the US' permission to the discharge of water is not the same as the permission of the international community.