SOUTH KOREA: Demonstrators in South Korea have called on the government to prevent an impending catastrophe caused by Japan’s release of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear facility. Despite opposition from fishing communities and environmental concerns, Japan began dumping water into the sea from the Fukushima nuclear facility north of Tokyo on Thursday.
The Korea Radiation Watch group has called for the government to develop solutions to a potential radioactive discharge that could pose a risk to the local fishing industry.
Although there won’t be immediate disasters like detecting radioactive materials in seafood, the group believes that the government needs to take immediate action to mitigate the potential risks. The protest attracted some 50,000 participants, according to the organisers.
According to Japan and scientific institutions, the water is safe. Tokyo Electric Power (TEP), the utility in charge of the facility, has been filtering it to remove isotopes, leaving just tritium, a radioactive hydrogen isotope that is challenging to separate.
According to a Kyodo news service, the fish tested in the seas near the facility did not have measurable amounts of tritium, according to a statement made on Saturday by Japan’s fisheries agency.
South Korea claims no scientific issues with water discharge, but environmental groups argue not all potential effects have been thoroughly examined. Choi Kyoung-sook of the Korea Radiation Watch group stated that no one can predict the marine ecosystem’s future in the next 100 years.
Japan claims it is releasing 1.3 million tonnes of water from its reactor due to contamination caused by fuel rods from a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The water will be released in the first discharge over 17 days, releasing approximately three Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of water or 7,800 cubic meters.
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