By AFP
August 25, 2023
Protestors march on the streets of Fiji's capital Suva against Japan's release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant - Copyright AFP Prerna PRIYANKA
China’s Pacific allies — from Solomon Islands’ government to Fiji’s opposition — on Friday echoed Beijing’s criticism of Japan releasing wastewater from its disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.
More than 500 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of treated wastewater will be released into the Pacific over decades in a plan endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But China has issued a furious response, and its allies in the Pacific have backed that criticism despite safety assurances from Japan and the IAEA.
Solomons’ Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare — who has delayed elections and scolded Western powers while embracing Beijing’s chequebook diplomacy — issued a “strong statement against Japan’s decision”.
The water release, he said, “has an impact on our people, ocean, economy and livelihood.”
There was a similar message in the Fijian capital Suva on Friday, where a rare protest attracted hundreds.
Demonstrators carried placards saying “Nuclear-free sea!” and “Pacific Lives Matter”.
The protest was promoted by FijiFirst, an opposition party whose leader, ousted prime minister Frank Bainimarama, courted closer ties with China while in office.
The party accused Fiji’s government of “failing future generations by allowing Japan to dump its nuclear waste into our ocean”.
Other leaders appeared convinced by the safety assessments.
“Japan has reassured the region that the water has been treated,” said Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, who is currently chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, a regional bloc.
“I believe that the discharge meets international safety standards.”
– An opening for Beijing –
China has repeatedly and strongly criticised the release plan, banned Japanese seafood imports and cast doubt on the expert assessments that concluded the operation poses no harm to the environment.
Nigel Marks, a physics professor at Australia’s Curtin University, said the released water contains negligible amounts of radioactive tritium.
“The Pacific Ocean contains 8,400 grams of pure tritium, while Japan will release 0.06 grams of tritium every year,” he said.
“The minuscule amount of extra radiation won’t make the tiniest jot of difference.”
Regardless of the science, the Fukushima release has created a political opening for Beijing, according to Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat who is now with the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
Japan has “done a lot of diplomacy to win over as many Pacific leaders as they can”, he said, but “almost universally this will be an unpopular decision among Pacific communities”.
“You can imagine Beijing using its diplomatic access to encourage some of its partners to speak out about this strongly, because it serves Beijing’s interests.”
As well as fears about damaging vital fish supplies and sensitive marine ecosystems, the Fukushima water release has caused disquiet in a region where nuclear issues are highly sensitive.
For decades, major powers including the United States, Britain and France used the sparsely populated South Pacific to test atomic weapons — with consequences that linger to this day.
Fukushima operator says released water samples within safe limits
By AFP
August 25, 2023
Japan has started releasing wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant
- Copyright AFP Philip FONG
Seawater samples taken following the release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor showed radioactivity levels well within safe limits, operator TEPCO said on Friday.
The start on Thursday of the discharge of some of the 1.34 million tonnes of water, collected on-site in the 12 years since the plant was swamped by a tsunami, prompted China to ban all Japanese seafood imports.
TEPCO took what it called rapid tests on Thursday afternoon after the release into the Pacific Ocean began, and on Friday it said that the results showed that radioactivity levels were within safe limits.
“We confirmed that the analysed value is equal to the calculated concentration and that the analysed value is below 1,500 bq/L,” TEPCO spokesman Keisuke Matsuo told a news conference.
Becquerels per litre is a measure of radioactivity. The national safety standard is 60,000.
The results were “similar to our previous simulation and sufficiently below” the safety limit, Matsuo added.
“We will continue to conduct analysis every day over the next one month and even after that, maintain our analysis effort,” he said.
“By providing swift, easy-to-understand explanations we hope to dispel various concerns.”
Japan’s environment ministry said it had collected seawater samples from 11 different locations on Friday, results of which would be released on Sunday.
The Fisheries Agency also pulled a flounder and a Gurnard fish early Friday from designated sampling spots near the pipe that released the Fukushima water.
“By publishing those data every day in a highly transparent fashion, we will demonstrate our actions based on scientific evidence,” said Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of nuclear policies.
– IAEA backing –
TEPCO says that the water — more than 500 Olympic pools’ worth — from cooling the remains of three reactors has been filtered of all radioactive elements except for tritium and is safe.
This is backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said on Thursday that samples taken from the first batch of diluted water prepared for discharge showed that tritium levels were well within safe limits.
“IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards,” said the chief of the UN body, Rafael Grossi, in a statement.
Most analysts agree although environmental pressure group Greenpeace has said that the filtration process, known as ALPS, does not work and that a vast amount of radioactivity will be released into the ocean.
Japan’s move infuriated China, which says the action contaminates the ocean, and widened a ban on aquatic produce in place for 10 Japanese prefectures to cover the whole country.
Nishimura on Friday echoed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in urging China, Japan’s biggest market for seafood, to reverse the ban.
“The Japanese government… will strongly demand baseless regulations to be immediately terminated,” Nishimura said.
South Korea’s government, which is trying to improve relations with Japan in order to counter China, has endorsed the water release although some ordinary people are alarmed.
Seawater samples taken following the release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor showed radioactivity levels well within safe limits, operator TEPCO said on Friday.
The start on Thursday of the discharge of some of the 1.34 million tonnes of water, collected on-site in the 12 years since the plant was swamped by a tsunami, prompted China to ban all Japanese seafood imports.
TEPCO took what it called rapid tests on Thursday afternoon after the release into the Pacific Ocean began, and on Friday it said that the results showed that radioactivity levels were within safe limits.
“We confirmed that the analysed value is equal to the calculated concentration and that the analysed value is below 1,500 bq/L,” TEPCO spokesman Keisuke Matsuo told a news conference.
Becquerels per litre is a measure of radioactivity. The national safety standard is 60,000.
The results were “similar to our previous simulation and sufficiently below” the safety limit, Matsuo added.
“We will continue to conduct analysis every day over the next one month and even after that, maintain our analysis effort,” he said.
“By providing swift, easy-to-understand explanations we hope to dispel various concerns.”
Japan’s environment ministry said it had collected seawater samples from 11 different locations on Friday, results of which would be released on Sunday.
The Fisheries Agency also pulled a flounder and a Gurnard fish early Friday from designated sampling spots near the pipe that released the Fukushima water.
“By publishing those data every day in a highly transparent fashion, we will demonstrate our actions based on scientific evidence,” said Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of nuclear policies.
– IAEA backing –
TEPCO says that the water — more than 500 Olympic pools’ worth — from cooling the remains of three reactors has been filtered of all radioactive elements except for tritium and is safe.
This is backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said on Thursday that samples taken from the first batch of diluted water prepared for discharge showed that tritium levels were well within safe limits.
“IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards,” said the chief of the UN body, Rafael Grossi, in a statement.
Most analysts agree although environmental pressure group Greenpeace has said that the filtration process, known as ALPS, does not work and that a vast amount of radioactivity will be released into the ocean.
Japan’s move infuriated China, which says the action contaminates the ocean, and widened a ban on aquatic produce in place for 10 Japanese prefectures to cover the whole country.
Nishimura on Friday echoed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in urging China, Japan’s biggest market for seafood, to reverse the ban.
“The Japanese government… will strongly demand baseless regulations to be immediately terminated,” Nishimura said.
South Korea’s government, which is trying to improve relations with Japan in order to counter China, has endorsed the water release although some ordinary people are alarmed.
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