Japanese citizens, Malaysian environmentalists share concerns ahead of second waste dump

Environmental activists in Seoul pour Japanese beer into a barrel resembling radioactive waste as they protest against Japan's nuclear-contaminated water release on Monday. (PHOTO / YONHAP)

The nuclear-contaminated water released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean has raised concerns both in and out of Japan. Still, Tokyo started a second release of water from the plant on Oct 5.

“A number of radioactive substances still remain in the contaminated water. I’m really concerned about the safety and health issues that may arise from the discharge into the ocean,” said Michiko Ueno, 64, a woman living in Chiba prefecture.

Mayumi Shirakura, a 74-year-old Tokyo resident, said: “It is wrong to say that the contaminated water is ‘safe’ just because it has been processed. There are still many radioactive substances in the water, and that doesn’t change the fact that the water is dangerous.”

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the Fukushima plant’s operator, resumed releasing nuclear contaminated water on Oct 5. Similar to the first phase, about 7,800 metric tons of water stored in tanks will be released into the ocean over 17 days.

A rapid measurement of tritium concentration in seawater was conducted on Sept 25 at 10 locations within 3 kilometers of the Fukushima plant. The tritium concentration at all locations was below the detection limit — less than 6.3 to 8.7 becquerels per liter, TEPCO, announced on its website. 

The measurement results of the concentration of Cs-137, Cs-134, and Total β (beta radiation) were also below the detection limits at 3:50 pm on Sept 27, TEPCO said. 

In reply to questions from the public, the company said currently, the nuclides that can be observed are limited to tritium, Cs-137, and Cs-134. Going forward, it plans to gradually expand the scope of nuclides that can be observed. 

TEPCO’s samplings of seawater were from the sea surface to a depth of 0.5 meters at several locations in and around the harbor. But since it started releasing contaminated water into the ocean on Aug 24, the company has not updated the information on seawater samplings at several other offshore locations.

Meanwhile, public trust in TEPCO and the Japanese government has declined due to problems with the emergency response to the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 and the toxic water disposal.

“They said the water is safe, but they are lying. I don’t believe it. What the Japanese government and TEPCO are doing is likely to cause significant damage, not only to Japanese citizens but also to many people overseas. I can’t help but think they’re deliberately hiding something,” said Ikuko Tameguchi, a 64-year-old Tokyo resident.

“Many people are unaware of the correct information, so I believe we, as taxpayers, should be well-informed and raise our voices,” she added. 

It is not known how many toxic substances are included in the toxic water treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), a multinuclide removal system, said Hikaru Amano, an adviser to the Beta-ray nuclide measurement lab of the Iwaki Citizens’ Radiation Measurement Center, also known as Tarachine.

Initially, TEPCO stated that if the contaminated water went through ALPS, it would meet regulatory standards, except for tritium. However, media reports revealed that radioactive substances other than tritium remained in the water at levels above regulatory standards.

After that, TEPCO acknowledged that about 70 percent of the water stored in tanks had concentrations of more than 60 nuclides other than tritium exceeding the regulatory standards for release into the environment. The company then suggested a secondary ALPS treatment before dumping.

However, the nuclides tritium, C-14, I-129, Sr-90, Cs-137, Co-60, Ru-106, and Sb-125 cannot be completely removed from the contaminated water even after the secondary treatment, experts said.

There is also uncertainty regarding other nuclides such as Ca-41, Cl-36, and Zr-93, said Amano at a webinar earlier this year.

Moreover, TEPCO analyzed only a small portion of the tanks, primarily focusing on the upper layer of the tanks’ supernatant substances. The high-concentration sludge and sediments in the lower and bottom layers were not adequately examined, he said.

TEPCO had conducted a radiation impact assessment but only three tank groups, containing slightly less than 3 percent of the total stored contaminated water, were indicated by the company as sources. 

Given the varied concentration of radioactive substances in the three tank groups, it is questionable whether these truly represent the entire contaminated water supply, said Kanna Mitsuta, executive director at Friends of the Earth Japan, one of Japan’s first NGOs to work on international environmental problems. 

Mitsuta noted that both TEPCO and the Japanese government have been actively asserting that nuclear power plants worldwide release water containing tritium. 

“What we need to be cautious about is that the treated contaminated water in question is mixed with cooling water from debris in which the fuel has melted. Since it has come into direct contact with the debris, it contains various radioactive substances,” Mitsuta said.

Beyond Japan, there is also dismay at the discharge.

Malaysian environmental and business groups opposed to Japan’s release of nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean have warned that the move will harm the marine environment and human health in the long term. 

The Japanese government has claimed that the water is safe, said Winston Liaw, chairman of the Sabah Travel and Tourism Agencies Association (SATTA). “But how safe it is? That is the question.” 

Liaw noted that this is a “long-term project” that will affect not only Japan but also its neighbors. 

He was alluding to Japan’s ongoing plan to discharge more than one million tons of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant over the next 30 years.

Sophine Tann, vice-president of the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia, said that over time, all of the world’s oceans and seas will be affected as the ocean currents spread the wastewater’s contaminants and toxins.

“I am against (the dumping) unless the Japanese government and authorities can give us a more concrete answer than what they have provided. For example, let the Japanese people use and drink the treated water for a year and then see what the effects could be,” Tann said.

On June 12, TEPCO started testing the equipment to discharge the nuclear-contaminated water from the plant into the Pacific. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Aug 22 that TEPCO would begin discharging wastewater on Aug 24. 

The water that was discharged had been used to cool the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was decommissioned after a strong earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan in March 2011.

The Japanese government’s decision has sparked widespread protests not only in Japan but also in other Asia-Pacific countries. 

Environmentalists, fisherfolks, consumer rights advocates, and business leaders have warned against the long-term environmental and public health impact of the release of nuclear-contaminated water.

Following the first phase of the release of wastewater from the Fukushima plant, the Malaysian health ministry announced it would closely inspect all high-risk food products imported from Japan. 

Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Muhammad Radzi Bin Abu Hassan said on Aug 23 that the ministry is “sensitive” to consumer concerns on the matter. 

“In this regard, it always conducts monitoring at the entrance to the country and local markets to ensure food safety is guaranteed”.

Protests and a petition titled “Raise Your Voice, Stop the Discharge of Nuclear Wastewater into the Ocean” were held in the western Malaysian state of Selangor soon after Japan began the first release of wastewater. 

One of the participants was David Kong Hon Kong, founder and CEO of funeral services provider Nirvana Asia Group. “Everyone should unequivocally protest the release of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean to prevent the world from another crisis,” Kong said, as reported by Malaysian daily The Star on Aug 28. 

Kong has also urged more Malaysian companies and individuals to speak out, noting that businesses need to fulfill their social responsibility. He said his company would organize more petition-signing events in Selangor’s state capital Shah Alam and the country’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur. 

Liaw, SATTA’s chairman, said he also met with the Japanese consulate in the state of Sabah in July to express the group’s concerns against the release of Fukushima wastewater. 

While the consulate said that the treated water was safe, Liaw said Japan needs to conduct more testing and issue more data that can attest to the water’s safety. 

“The most important thing is the testing of the seafood,” he said, adding that Japan, Malaysia, and other countries need to test if seafood caught after the release of the wastewater is safe for consumption. 

He said if the data showed that the seafood is safe to eat then the discharge is indeed safe. “We must act (based) on scientific data.”

Several countries and regions including China, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region imposed restrictions on Japanese seafood ahead of the first phase of Tokyo’s wastewater discharge in August. 

Tokyo’s decision was also greeted with protests both in Japan and around the Pacific, including South Korea and Fiji.

Contact the writers at jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn