Thousands of South Korean fishermen rally against the release of Japan's nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean on June 12. (PHOTO: VCG)

Edited by QI Liming

The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant began tests on June 12 of newly constructed facilities for discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the sea, a plan strongly opposed by fishing communities and neighboring countries. Many scientists and environmental organizations worldwide have expressed deep concerns.

"Trojan horse" of radionuclide transport

American scientists are raising concerns that marine life and ocean currents could carry harmful radioactive isotopes, also called radionuclides, across the entire Pacific Ocean.

"It's a trans-boundary and trans-generational event," said Robert Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, and a scientific adviser on the discharge plan to the Pacific Islands Forum. "Anything released into the ocean off of Fukushima is not going to stay in one place."

Richmond cited studies showing that radionuclides and debris released during the initial Fukushima accident were quickly detected nearly 5,500 miles away off the coast of California. Radioactive elements in the planned nuclear wastewater discharges may once again spread across the ocean, he said.

The radionuclides could be carried by ocean currents, especially the cross-Pacific Kuroshio current. Marine animals that migrate great distances could also spread them.

In addition, according to National Geographic website, a study earlier this year refers to microplastics, tiny plastic particles that are increasingly widespread in the oceans, as a possible "Trojan horse" of radionuclide transport.

Ocean currents could carry treated radioactive wastewater far from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Scientists in some countries around the Pacific worry about its potential effects on food chains and ecosystems.

Richmond and his colleagues are not the only American scientists urgently raising such concerns. He and his fellow scientific advisers to the Pacific Islands Forum recently published an opinion piece saying that not enough is yet known about the nuclear wastewater's potential effects on environmental and human health, and calling for Japan to delay the discharge.

The discharge needs to be viewed in perspective, said Ken Buesseler, a marine radiochemist and adviser to the Pacific Islands Forum. "We're not going to die. This isn't that situation." But, he added, it "doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned."

An unjust cause finds scant support

Fishing officials in Japan said they remain opposed to the plan, when they met Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura on his visit to Fukushima and the neighboring prefectures of Ibaraki and Miyagi.

"We stand by our opposition," Tetsu Nozaki, head of the Fukushima prefectural fisheries association, told Nishimura. Nozaki, however, said the association supports progress in the plant's decommissioning and hopes to continue the dialogue. "At the moment, our positions remain wide apart."

According to The Korea Herald, seven in ten greater Seoul residents oppose Japan's Fukushima wastewater discharge plan. In a poll of 1,000 people aged 18 or above conducted by polling organization Jowon C&I on May 27-29, 70.8 percent of respondents said they are against Tokyo's plan to release the destroyed nuclear plant's wastewater.

Meanwhile, an Al Jazeera report says a signature campaign was launched in South Korea in early June to oppose Japan's intended discharge of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The campaign was initiated by South Korea's leading opposition Democratic Party in the capital Seoul. Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-Myung expressed his concerns, questioning how the president and the ruling party can support Japan and grant them immunity and permission to dispose of hazardous nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean.

As Zhang Kejian, chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, said at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, Japan's plan is not the country's private matter, but a major issue that has an effect on the global marine environment and public health.

By disregarding the legitimate concerns of its own people and other countries, Japan has neither provided a scientific and credible answer to the concerns of all parties, nor fully consulted with its neighbors and other stakeholders, said Zhang, adding that it is "extremely irresponsible" for Japan to arbitrarily proceed with its nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan.