After Japan began releasing treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, China is announcing a ban on seafood imports from the Sea of Japan. Environmental organization Greenpeace says the release violates human rights and harms ocean ecosystems, but Vilnius University in the opinion of Rokos Dobužinskas, doctor of physical sciences, the public concern is exaggerated.
The release of water used for cooling, signed by the Japanese government two years ago and approved by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency last month, is a key step in the process of decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant, according to Reuters.
In 2011, due to the earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the core of its reactors melted. Since then, the reactors, although shut down, had to be cooled by water that was stored in tanks, but now there is not enough space for that. It is believed that 1,3 million removing tons of water will take 30 years.
Despite international agreements, the public and environmental protection organizations such as Greenpeace publicly criticized and expressed their dissatisfaction with this verdict, demonstrations were held in South Korea (Seoul) and Japan (Tokyo).
"We are very disappointed and outraged by the Japanese government's decision to release radioactive water into the ocean. Despite the concerns of fishermen, citizens, residents of Fukushima and the international community, especially in the Pacific region and neighboring countries, this decision was made," Hisayo Takada, project manager of the organization's branch in Japan, is quoted as saying on the Greenpeace website.
According to activists, Japan's water release plans do not take into account the Human Rights Council resolution, which states that people have the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Environmentalists also say Japan has failed to comply with its legal obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to protect the marine environment and has failed to carry out thorough investigations into the water released.
Chinese customs officials say China is deeply concerned about radioactive contamination from food and agricultural products imported from Japan.
"Japan should not cause additional harm to local people and even people around the world for its own selfish interests," China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
The amount of radiation in the water is not dangerous
R. Dobužinskas says to the "Sustainable Lietuva" initiative that, according to all the evidence presented, the water is properly treated, and the substances remaining in it do not exceed the established norm limits and should not pose a threat to either people or ecosystems.
"Not many people would want to drink it, but the radiation levels in it are low enough to be released into the ocean." Life is constantly surrounded by background radiation. It is said that life could have originated precisely because of radiation. Also, some of the atoms that make up our bodies are isotopes that are radioactive. When measuring and checking the discharged water, even less radiation is visible than what is naturally present in nature, so you shouldn't worry too much about it," explains the scientist.
According to him, fear and mistrust in society can arise due to political ambitions.
"In my opinion, this bubble is caused by political motives. China is extremely dependent on fossil fuels, and Japan is one of the most successful examples of nuclear power generation. Even when it comes to the Fukushima accident, it was handled very efficiently compared to Chernobyl, which had major consequences. There are a lot of political and commercial winds that try to take advantage of this situation and thicken colors and make nuclear energy a controversial means of energy extraction," says the VU Doctor of Physical Sciences.
R. Dobužinskas emphasizes that although the idea of dumping waste into the ocean is not very attractive, we have much bigger problems related to surface waters.
"Radiation is a sensitive topic. Too much emphasis in my opinion. We have factories with much larger chemical factors, such as microplastics, which cause much more pollution than this deionized water," commented a specialist to the "Sustainable Lietuva" initiative.
The Ignalina nuclear power plant collects other waste
The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) waste storage program is still ongoing in the north-east of Lithuania. R. Dobužinskas explains that the radioactive waste accumulated in our country and its storage are different from those in Japan.
"The reactors of the Fukushima and Ignalina nuclear power plants are different: the one in Lithuania is a solid fuel reactor, so our waste is the solid material that was used - it needs to be stored. Huge amounts of money from the European Union, our own funds, are invested in this. We should probably think about the fact that such power plants should operate as long as possible and try not to close them, because the costs and economic benefits of closing them are negative," says the scientist.
The IAE website states that these materials are plutonium, uranium and thorium in the form of a metal alloy, chemical compound or concentrate, or in a mixture of other materials.
July 18 of this year. The State Atomic Energy Safety Inspectorate issued a license to the NPP to transport nuclear fuel cycle materials from the Maišiagala radioactive waste storage facility to the radioactive waste management facilities of the NPP.
Miglė Vasiliauskaitė (ELTA)
