STORY: Japan's nuclear wastewater dumping threatens human health, global ecosystem
DATELINE: Aug. 26, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:56
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the nuclear power plant
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): DAVID COPPLESTONE, Professor in environmental radioactivity at the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ZAFAR ULLAH KORESHI, Dean of Graduate Studies, Air University, Pakistan
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): Prof. TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU, Department of Biological Sciences at University of South Carolina

STORYLINE:

Japan has started releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean disregarding public concerns and strong opposition from both home and abroad.

Observers say Japan's move is highly irresponsible, and may pose long-term threats to human health and the marine environment.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): DAVID COPPLESTONE, Professor in environmental radioactivity at the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom
"We have to remember, one of the main concerns here is around tritium, which is a hydrogen element that is radioactive as an isotope, and it means it's very difficult to separate it from the contaminated water. So if we wanted to dispose of that water, we have to think about ways to get rid of the radionuclides from that water or from the tritium, if we could. Unfortunately, we can't remove tritium from that water."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ZAFAR ULLAH KORESHI, Dean of Graduate Studies, Air University, Pakistan
"This has cesium, strontium, iodine, and even some amounts of tritium and cobalt 14. Now, these are all very dangerous for fish. And fish, small fish are eaten by bigger fish, the microorganisms are affected. So it affects the entire ocean bed.
And of course, if people eat this kind of contaminated food, it will affect the health of millions and millions of people, for many, many years. And nuclear radiation is very dangerous, it goes deep into the human DNA."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): Prof. TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU, Department of Biological Sciences at University of South Carolina
"When tritium gets inside the body, it's at least as dangerous as any of the other radionuclides. And in some cases, it's more than double as dangerous in terms of the effects of the radiation on the genetic material, on the proteins, on the amino acids."

More than 1.3 million tonnes of wastewater, enough to fill more than 500 Olympic-size swimming pools, are set to be poured into the ocean, which could take up to 40 years to complete.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)