Japan’s second round of nuclear-contaminated water discharge into the sea is about to begin!
On August 24, despite domestic and foreign opposition, the Japanese government insisted on launching a plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, attracting global attention.
According to CCTV Financial Report, as of September 24, a full month has passed since the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company forcibly started the discharge of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea. Multiple Japanese media reported that the second round of emissions is expected to start from the end of this month to early October.
CCTV Finance “World Finance” column video
According to the latest reports from Japanese media, the second round of discharge of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water will be launched from the end of September to early October as scheduled. TEPCO is currently preparing for the second round of discharge.
Image source: CCTV Finance
According to TEPCO’s previously announced plan, the total amount of nuclear-contaminated water discharged in the second round is still expected to be around 7,800 tons.
By the end of March next year, TEPCO will conduct four rounds of discharges of nuclear-contaminated water, with a total discharge of approximately 31,200 tons, accounting for 2.3% of the current total nuclear-contaminated water, equivalent to emptying approximately 40 storage tanks.
Nuclear-contaminated water from more than 1,000 other storage tanks will be discharged over the next few decades.
Image source: CCTV Finance
With the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, Japan’s export sales of aquatic products have been severely hampered.
In Hokkaido, the main scallop producing area, a sharp decline in exports has led to a backlog of scallop stocks and insufficient warehouse storage space. Some merchants said they expect the backlog of inventory to reach 5,000 tons to 6,000 tons by the end of the year.
In the context of Japan’s rising electricity bills, merchants’ storage costs are also rising. In order to reduce losses, some production areas have begun to reduce stocks by distributing free food for school meals.
In addition, a fishing group in Aomori Prefecture said that due to the drop in sea cucumber prices, the local area will abandon the large-scale sea cucumber fishing originally planned for October.
Japan’s local parliament passes opinion letter
Ask the Japanese government to stop discharging nuclear contaminated water into the sea
According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, on the 19th local time, the Hakodate City Council in Hokkaido, Japan, voted to require the government to immediately suspend the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea on the grounds that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida “implemented it despite the objections of fishermen and others”. Book. At the same time, the council also asked the government to take countermeasures to prevent further increase in nuclear sewage.
Nuclear contaminated water will spread around the world
In 2011, after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, my country immediately launched emergency monitoring and assessment of the marine environment in the Western Pacific. Yu Wen, a researcher at the School of National Safety and Emergency Management of Beijing Normal University who participated in the survey, said that during this 7-year follow-up monitoring, the research team found that 3 months after the Fukushima nuclear accident, nuclear pollutants spread to the high seas 600 kilometers away from Fukushima, and the content seriously exceeded the standard. Eighteen months after the accident, the presence of nuclear contaminants was detected in the southeastern waters of Taiwan, my country. According to estimates, after entering the marine environment, these nuclides will gradually spread to all sea areas through ocean currents in 8-10 years.
Drawing on these observational data and ocean dynamic processes, Yu Wen predicted that the nuclear-contaminated water discharged by Japan this time will quickly spread to the entire ocean system with the help of ocean currents, and enter our country’s waters in about one and a half to two years.
“Nuclear contaminated water is transported and diffused through ocean currents, and some of the radioactive materials will also be absorbed by marine life.” Yu Wen said that the sea does have a certain dilution effect, but Japan’s 30-year sea discharge plan is still uncertain , taking into account the fragility of the environment and ecology, it needs to be handled with caution.
Will the discharge of Japanese nuclear wastewater into the sea affect eating seafood?
In the future, will sea salt and seafood be safe to eat? Zhang Yanxing, a think tank expert at Dalian Maritime University and a professor at the Law School, said that local grouper and Xu’s flatfish in Fukushima were previously detected to contain radioactive elements exceeding the standard, so if the source of seafood is close to Fukushima, one should remain vigilant.
Chen Xinjun, dean of the School of Marine Science at Shanghai Ocean University, said that the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water will have the greatest impact on fish in the waters surrounding Japan. In addition, fish in different water layers, resident fish and migratory fish are affected differently. “Seafood products circulating in our country’s market must have undergone strict testing and are safe. Chinese consumers can rest assured about this.”
At present, my country has completely suspended the import of Japanese aquatic products, and after the Fukushima nuclear accident, my country has included the monitoring of radioactive substances in food into the scope of food safety risk monitoring.