Japan’s plan to release purified radioactive water from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific will “have no impact whatsoever on the environment,” a professor speaking with CNBC said.
Japan said Tuesday that the operator of the Fukushima plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co or TEPCO, will treat and dilute the water before pumping it out in about two years. More than a million tons of radioactive water is coming from the destroyed plant, and it will take decades to fully release them.
The move has met fierce opposition from Japanese neighbors and environmentalists.
But Brent Heuser of the University of Illinois said the filtering process will remove most of the radioactive elements from the water, leaving only tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen – that isn’t harmful in small amounts.
Photo taken Oct. 12, 2017 shows huge tanks storing contaminated radioactive wastewater at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
Xinhua News Agency | Getty images
“Tritium is not dangerous in small amounts … it will be very diluted, it is just not a problem, the environmental impact is zero,” Heuser, a professor of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering, told CNBC’s “Squawk. Box Asia “on Thursdays.
Still, Japan’s neighbors, including China and South Korea, have opposed the plan. Environmental group Greenpeace and local residents and fishermen also expressed concern.
South Korea convened the Japanese ambassador in Seoul and is reportedly investigating ways to challenge Japan’s decision in an international court.
In China, the State Department criticized Japan in a statement for the “unilateral” decision to release the water, while ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian challenged Japanese officials to drink water from the Fukushima plant.
Meanwhile, Reuters Taiwan reported that it will continue to raise concerns and monitor related developments closely.
Pollution of the ocean
Reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant were damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. TEPCO has collected the contaminated water in tanks, but storage capacity is likely to run out by the end of next year.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that discharging water into the ocean was the “most realistic” option.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said, “The water removal method chosen by Japan is both technically feasible and in accordance with international practice.” The US said Japan has been transparent and its approach appears to be in line with “globally accepted nuclear safety standards.”
For Heuser, there are bigger ocean pollution problems to worry about than Japan releasing the treated water.
“I would say to people who are concerned that this is going into the ocean: we are dumping 8 tons of plastic in the ocean, pregnant women should not eat tuna because of mercury poisoning, microplastic is in the marine food chain – this is what we should be concerned make it, ”he said.