Twelve years after the nuclear catastrophe, Japan is about to spill wastewater from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean. These waters received treatment, but are still slightly contaminated. The operation has sparked a scientific and diplomatic battle between Beijing and Tokyo.
First modification:
With the RFI correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde.
The March 11, 2011 tsunami left its mark on Japan, but also on its Northeast Asian neighbors. The Fukushima Daiichi plant accident required immense amounts of water to cool the three melted down reactors. For this, rainwater and groundwater were used. Cubic meters that are currently stored in more than 1,000 tanks at the plant.
In total, Japan plans to dump more than 1.3 million tons of water contaminated by radioactive elements into the ocean over the next ten years. An operation decided on April 13, 2021, unilaterally.
“Japan has decided to dump polluted water into the ocean, totally disregarding the interests of the Chinese people and other countries in the world,” Sun Xiaobo, director of the Department of Arms Control and Proliferation of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a press conference.
Beijing sent together with Russia a list of written questions to Japan. The Japanese experts responded that the contaminated and treated water contains very little radioactive material, which is mainly tritium. According to a Japanese government document published by the Yomiuriu newspaper, Chinese nuclear power plants are releasing water containing tritium at levels 6.5 times higher than Fukushima water.
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diplomatic pulse
The Japanese embassy in Beijing recently hosted an unusual briefing for foreign journalists in China with three messages: “The water, once diluted with seawater, is safe for the environment and human health,” an official said. “In addition, the entire process is being supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the only risk of operation has to do with misinformation that is damaging the reputation and lives of Fukushima residents.”
Both Tokyo and Beijing are aware that, in addition to the scientific and ecological debate, the image of Japan and its impact on the economy are at stake.
According to a survey released at the embassy meeting, 41% of Fukushima residents are concerned about reputational and economic risks, 12% fear a decline in the industry and 11% fear healthcare stigma.
A Godzilla in the ocean
Options have been proposed for removing the radioactive water from Fukushima: store it underground, let it evaporate into the atmosphere, or dump it into the ocean. The IAEA has come out in favor of “controlled release at sea.”
China is wary of the ALPLS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) water treatment system used by the owner of the Fukushima plant, Tepco. The Chinese experts refer to a German study according to which “50 days after dumping, the radioactive material is likely to spread throughout the Pacific Ocean and in 10 years to all the waters of the world.”
“This species of Godzilla poses a serious risk to people and the marine environment,” reacted Li Chijiang, secretary general of a think tank close to the Chinese government. “Although it is the cheapest solution, the Pacific Ocean is not Japan’s garbage can,” he added.
On Wednesday June 28, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Tokyo and the IAEA for further explanations. This after revelations by the South Korean media according to which the Japanese government had donated more than one million euros to the UN nuclear agency, whose experts continue to examine the contaminated waters of Fukushima Daiichi.
read alsoIAEA examines Fukushima contaminated water release project
Japan’s nuclear safety authorities say that diluting treated water is the safest solution to preserve the environment and health. “We have not chosen it because it is a cheaper method, but because it is the safest according to technical feasibility and safety studies,” says Tepco.
Drink water from the plant
This battle for water is set against the backdrop of tensions between Beijing and Tokyo, and even a broader conflict between China and the United States, Japan’s allies. Both diplomacies have intensified their contacts in search of support from Japan to South America, passing through the Pacific islands.
read alsoIn South Korea, the imminent discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima worries the population
South Korea is also worried, even though the conservative South Korean government has recently reached out to Tokyo. South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo went so far as to say he was willing to drink contaminated water from Fukushima, while in Seoul thousands have demonstrated to denounce the Japanese water spill.
