Fukushima nuclear disaster and water release

As I see it | For the US, Japan is the friend who can do no wrong – even when it’s dumping radioactive waste water into the ocean

Name: Japan’s plan to release radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea sparks outrage
Uploaded: 2021-04-15T22:00:12.000Z
Duration: 2 min 58 s
Description: Japan’s plan to release radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea sparks outrage

The US has stood by its ally even as regional governments and environmental activists raised concerns over the decision to dump 1 million tonnes of Fukushima waste water into the Pacific Ocean

Washington’s quick support for Tokyo has sparked accusations that environmental concerns are trumped by US strategic considerations

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

People protest against Japan’s decision to dump radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul on April 14. Photo: Xinhua

Maria Siow

Published: 6:00am, 16 Apr 2021Updated: 6:00am, 16 Apr 2021

Even as environmental groups and other countries in the region expressed anger with Japan this week over the controversial announcement that it would dump radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site into the ocean, the United States has chosen to throw its weight behind its ally.

Washington could well have remained silent. But its quick support for Japan – set against the views of regional governments, environmental experts and activists – has sparked accusations that strategic considerations trump environmental concerns for the US.

Tokyo has said it can remove all the strontium and caesium from the 1 million tonnes of waste water it plans to discharge into the Pacific Ocean in two years time, but the tritium – a less radioactive material that poses little risk to human health in low concentrations – will remain.

02:58

Japan’s plan to release radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea sparks outrage

Environmental organisation Greenpeace East Asia has warned that the waste water could damage the marine environment, and the environmental organisation has said it will support countries challenging Japan’s decision.

Even Japanese fishermen have expressed anger and frustration, fearing their decade-long efforts to restore the fishing industry in the region devastated by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster will now be for nought.

China has described the move as “extremely irresponsible”, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian saying “the oceans are not Japan’s trash can, and the Pacific Ocean is not Japan’s sewer”.