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On August 24 last year, Japan began discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. So far, more than 20,000 tons of nuclear-contaminated water have been discharged into the Pacific Ocean through three rounds of discharge.
This is the largest harbor in Fukushima, Onahama Port. Fishing boats are quietly docked at the pier, and now the bustling scene of tourists is long gone. Because here, it is only 80 kilometers away from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
In 2011, when a major earthquake and a nuclear accident took away the peaceful lives of the residents, they had hoped that TEPCO would handle the aftermath. However, almost 13 years later, what they were waiting for was the Japanese government's forcible launch of the plan to discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the sea.
After the nuclear-contaminated water was discharged into the sea, the Japanese government took great pains to restore its damaged international image. A week after the discharge of the sea, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a luncheon at the prime minister's official residence to "eat and broadcast" the seafood caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. The next day, he invited U.S. Ambassador to Japan Emanuel to a restaurant in Fukushima Prefecture to eat locally caught seafood.
In order to convey to the public the so-called "safety" of the discharge, the Japanese government also organized media organizations to visit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. However, it is almost impossible to show the outside world the full picture of the nuclear power plant and the facilities that discharge the sea into the sea. Japanese government departments often organize domestic and foreign media to go to the Fukushima nuclear power plant to do group interviews, and the premise is very strict, from the time the vehicle enters the Fukushima nuclear power plant area, it is not allowed to film, and it is only allowed to be allowed in designated locations.
Shortly after the discharge, Japan's Fisheries Agency announced that "no tritium" of the radioactive element tritium had been detected in fish samples caught off the coast of Fukushima, but only two fish samples. Since then, there has been a sputtering accident of nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The lack of transparency in testing and repeated accidents have made the Japanese people's doubts not only not dispelled, but also worsened.
The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea continues, and the voices of opposition from the Japanese people have not stopped. The reasons for people's opposition to the discharge are clear: first, the views of fishermen against the discharge are not respected, and second, the policy of the discharge is decided by the government, and the implementer of the discharge is TEPCO, and it is very ambiguous who will ultimately bear the responsibility. The third most important point is that the plan to discharge the sea spans 30 years, and it is very worrying whether TEPCO will be able to avoid accidents during this period.
In the face of the Japanese government's insistence, neighboring countries have "stopped" the import of Fukushima aquatic products. For local fishermen in Fukushima, the nuclear leak was an unwarranted disaster, and the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea this time is even worse.
As the opposition grew louder and the export figures became more and more ugly, the Japanese government finally couldn't sit still and announced that it would allocate 80 billion yen and 20 billion yen respectively to subsidize the fishing industry in the Fukushima area. However, the 100 billion yen is known as "hush money" by the outside world.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which "endorses" the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, is also in a subtle manner. Before the sea discharge, the agency's director general, Grossi, in an interview with Dragon TV, repeatedly stressed that there was "no problem" with the IAEA's assessment. However, when I asked the agency for an interview on the regulation of the discharge, the emails sent were all in vain.
Hiding and wanting to talk about it has also worried many people. However, no matter how worried the people are, in the new year, the plan to discharge the sea will continue.
As of December, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has discharged about 23,000 tons of contaminated water from 23 storage tanks three times. The fourth marine discharge will be implemented in late February 2024, with 8 storage tanks. Moreover, concentration analysis will no longer be carried out before discharge.
The lack of concentration analysis has also made experts worry about whether the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea will become the next Minamata disease problem. Masashi Goto, a Japanese engineering expert, said it could be decades before environmental issues came to fruition.
(Take a look at the news Knews reporter: Song Kankan Editor: Zhao He, Zhang Zhiyi)