BEIJING, April 13 (Bian Lei) On April 13, the Japanese government held a cabinet meeting to formally decide that the nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will be discharged into the sea after treatment and dilution. Many doubted that the treated water still contained radioactive substances.

Where does the million ton Fukushima nuclear sewage come from? What's the harm of nuclear sewage? Is seafood still edible? What areas will be affected by the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea? How does the international community respond to this? The Japanese government has asked Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to make relevant preparations with the goal of discharging nuclear sewage in two years. It is clear that from now on, the Pandora's Box will be opened.

[Where does 1.2 million tons of nuclear sewage come from?]

It starts from the strongest earthquake on the east coast of Japan in March 2011.

This magnitude 9 earthquake was strongly felt, triggering a tsunami of up to four stories high to the Shanghai shore, causing the three reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to melt down and radioactive materials to leak, resulting in one of the most serious nuclear disasters in human history.

After the accident, a large amount of nuclear sewage was generated from the newly injected water for continuous cooling of the reactor core, as well as a large amount of groundwater and rainwater that infiltrated into the reactor.

At present, more than 1.2 million tons of nuclear sewage have been stored in thousands of large water storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Moreover, Fukushima still produces about 140 tons of nuclear sewage every day. It is estimated that by 2022, nuclear sewage will reach the limit of 1.37 million tons of water storage facilities.

[Nuclear sewage will damage human DNA?]

Japan's discussion on discharging nuclear sewage into the sea began as early as 2011. The government last proposed this idea in October 2020. However, due to the fierce opposition to the idea, the trip failed.

Originally, the term "nuclear sewage" was enough to arouse people's fear. There are a lot of radionuclides in these waters. Although at present, Tokyo Electric Power Company uses special equipment "Multi nuclide Removal Equipment" (ALPS) to purify nuclear sewage, it has been reported previously that even the Japanese side claimed that it has filtered "treated water", it also contains radioactive residues.

In 2019, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute of the United States said that radioactive elements such as iodine-129, strontium-90, ruthenium-106 and carbon-14 were contained in nuclear sewage. Among them, iodine-129 can cause thyroid cancer, and strontium-90 is included in the World Health Organization's list of Class I carcinogens, which is prone to leukemia.

The environmental protection organization "Greenpeace" pointed out in 2020 that the content of radioactive isotope carbon-14 and other radioactive substances in the Fukushima nuclear sewage is very dangerous, and there is a potential risk of damaging human DNA.

[Affects the table, can seafood be eaten?]

According to the Health Times, citing experts, "generally speaking, the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea will have an impact on us".

According to the report, Liu Entao, School of Oceanography, China University of Geosciences, pointed out that "human beings are at the top of the food chain pyramid, and seafood and other bioaccumulated radioactive elements will affect human beings through the transmission of the food chain."

According to the analysis, human beings indirectly ingest various radioisotopes in seawater by eating seafood. Experiments have proved that if a large amount of radioactive contaminated seafood is consumed for a long time, it may cause the accumulation of radioactive substances in the body to exceed the allowable amount, resulting in diseases such as chronic radiation sickness, and damage to hematopoietic organs, endocrine system, nervous system, etc.

[Is there no precedent for discharging nuclear sewage into the sea in the world?]

Before the Fukushima nuclear accident, mankind had experienced many major nuclear accidents.

However, including the Chernobyl nuclear power plant leakage accident and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, atmospheric release has been chosen. Some experts pointed out that there had never been a nuclear accident like the Fukushima nuclear accident that would produce a large amount of sewage before, so there was no precedent for the sewage treated by a nuclear accident to be discharged into the sea.

In addition, the experts also said that there was no provision for international third party institutions to inspect the treated nuclear sewage before discharging it to the sea, and there was no relevant inspection procedure and standard.

[What are the other "options" for treating nuclear sewage?]

Since 2013, the Japanese government has proposed five methods for sewage disposal, including injection into the formation, discharge into the sea, steam release, hydrogen release and underground burial.

Later, the expert committee organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan submitted a report in February 2020, believing that the "most practical solution" is to dilute the nuclear sewage into the sea or evaporate it into the atmosphere.

However, as stated in the report of the expert meeting of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce, "the time required for discharge into the sea is the shortest and the cost is the least". Therefore, the option of discharging nuclear sewage into the sea was selected.

[Which areas will be affected by nuclear sewage?]

It is foreseeable that once Japan discharges the treated nuclear sewage into the sea, it will be difficult to recover.

At first, the Pacific coastal waters of Japan will be affected, especially the local waters around Fukushima Prefecture. Later, sewage will also pollute the East China Sea. Countries around Japan will inevitably be affected.

According to a German marine scientific research institution, radioactive materials will spread to most of the Pacific within 57 days from the date of discharge, and the United States and Canada will be affected three years later.

Taking radioactive cesium as an example, the Japanese Atomic Energy Research and Development Agency has conducted computer simulation calculations on the diffusion of radioactive cesium with a half-life of about 30 years, and found that it will reach North America in 5 years along the current; In 10 years, it will return to eastern Asia with the ocean current; In 30 years, it will spread to almost the entire Pacific Ocean.

[The public is angry, "Japan opposes Japan first"?]

The Japanese government discharges nuclear sewage into the sea, and the most direct resistance comes from Japan.

On the eve of the decision made by the Japanese government, a number of citizen groups in the country submitted the collected signatures opposing the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea on April 12, totaling about 64000, from 88 countries and regions, including Japan.

Manta Xiahua, Director of FoE Japan Affairs, a Japanese environmental protection group, pointed out that the Japanese government's decision was a "rough way of decision" without full discussion.

In addition, the Japanese citizen group "National Second Generation Group Contact Agreement for Nuclear Explosion Victims" announced on the 12th that it had sent a petition to Prime Minister Kan Yiwei and six relevant cabinet officials, asking not to discharge into the sea. "TEPCO and the government should explore ways to manage sewage on land," said the 62 year old president of Nagasaki, Saiyama Seng.

[The international community is highly concerned. What does the United States say?]

Foreign media pointed out that in the latest statement, the United States seemed to acquiesce in Japan's decision. Ned Price, spokesman of the US State Department, said that the US side believed that Japan's measures "seemed to meet globally recognized nuclear safety standards" and would continue to communicate with Japan.

On April 13, the South Korean government expressed deep regret over Japan's decision and said that it would take all feasible measures to protect the safety of South Korean citizens. The head of the State Affairs Adjustment Office, Ju Runzhe, said that the government urged Japan to transparently disclose the information on Fukushima nuclear sewage treatment and let the international community scientifically verify the treatment measures.

The day before, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Nancy Grossie said that the Agency had taken note of the concerns of all parties on the matter, understood that the matter was receiving global attention, and was willing to promote the Agency's assessment and supervision of the matter in a fair, objective and scientific manner.

Jennifer Morgan, Director General of Greenpeace International, said in a statement that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power thought that the discharge of nuclear sewage into the Pacific could be "rationalized", which was "a very terrible thing". The decision of the Japanese government violates the legal obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

On April 9, 12 and 13, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China responded three times to the issue of Japan's nuclear sewage discharge into the sea. In the latest statement on the 13th, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Japan's unilateral decision to dispose of the nuclear waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident by discharging into the sea without exhausting the means of safe disposal, ignoring domestic and foreign doubts and objections, and without full consultation with surrounding countries and the international community, was extremely irresponsible, It will seriously damage international public health and safety and the vital interests of people in neighboring countries.

At the same time, China pointed out that it would continue to closely follow developments with the international community and reserve the right to make further responses.