According to Japan’s newsletter, the Japanese government basically decided to discharge nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea on April 9.
On April 13, the Japanese government will convene a cabinet meeting and formally decide. Meanwhile, Japanese public opinion believes that this move is bound to provoke opposition from Japanese fishermen and the international community.
Hiroshi Kishi, president of the National Fisheries Association of Japan, said on April 7 that “there has been no change in his position against [the discharge of nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant]” and reiterated his opposition to the Japanese government’s idea of discharging nuclear sewage into the sea.
In 2015, Tokyo Electric Power Company made a written guarantee to the National Fisheries Association of Japan that it would not easily emit to the sea.
More than 10 years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, but its nuclear sewage treatment problem remains unresolved. Last fall, the Japanese government decided to drain the nuclear sewage from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, but it was put on hold due to strong opposition and other reasons.
According to Japanese media analysis, the Japanese government’s decision to discharge nuclear sewage may be because the storage tank capacity of nuclear sewage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is about to reach the upper limit. Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Tokyo Electric Power Company now adds 140 tons of “treated water” per day, and is estimated to reach the storage tank ceiling by September 2022. 1.37 million tons.
In his defense in Congress in March this year, Kan Yiwei said about the disposal of nuclear sewage: “There should be no delay in putting it on hold. The disposal policy will be finalized at the appropriate time.” Kyodo News Agency said that the Japanese government has adjusted the direction of convening a meeting of relevant cabinet staff as early as April 13.
The storage tank for nuclear sewage will reach the capacity limit as early as next summer. Although the government is exploring emissions into the sea, fishermen who are worried about image damage strongly oppose it. In the meeting between Yoshihiro Kan and Hiroshi Kishi, whether he can get the understanding of Hiroshi Kishi is the focus. According to the results of the meeting, the schedule of the relevant cabinet staff meeting may be fine-tuned.
Some Japanese scholars point out that the ocean around Fukushima is not only a fishing ground on which local fishermen depend, but also part of the Pacific Ocean and even the global ocean.
The discharge of nuclear sewage into the ocean will affect global fish migration, ocean-going fisheries, human health, ecological security and other aspects. Therefore, this problem is not only in Japan. The problem is an international issue related to the ecological and environmental security of the global marine.
Previously, Japanese media pointed out that Tokyo Electric Power Company said that there was no land to build a new storage tank, but there was a large number of uninhabitable areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant due to excessive radiation, and the idle land could be fully used to build new storage facilities.” The Nuclear Energy Citizens Committee believes that “large storage tanks are stored on land” or “solation with mortar” is the best way to solve the nuclear sewage problem under existing technology, which can ensure that nuclear sewage is properly stored on land.
