STORY: Japan's nuclear-contaminated water discharge to affect millions: Pakistani expert
DATELINE: July 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:39
LOCATION: Islamabad
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Fukushima plant
2. SOUNDBITE (English): ZAFAR ULLAH KORESHI, Dean of graduate studies, Air University, Pakistan
3. various of protests in Japan and South Korea

STORYLINE:

A Pakistani expert has expressed concern over Japan's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean.

The dean of graduate studies of Air University in Pakistan said that such actions will affect the entire ocean bed and the health of millions of people.

SOUNDBITE (English): ZAFAR ULLAH KORESHI, Dean of graduate studies, Air University, Pakistan
"The contamination of the seawater, which is our common property, and it is the Pacific Ocean. So it affects fishermen, and the seafood, the marine life, and the effect of life and the ecological effect also. So I think it's a very serious thing. The government has got approval to discharge 1 million tonnes of radioactive contaminated water. And this has cesium, strontium, iodine, and even some amounts of tritium and cobalt 14. Now, these are all very dangerous for fish. And (even if) you don't fish, small fish are eaten by bigger fish, they're eaten by bigger fish, the micro organisms 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, as you said, for many, many years, at least what 30 years is confirmed. And nuclear radiation is very dangerous, it goes deep into the human DNA, and it affects medical structure inside our body, and it is transmitted through generations.
The biggest loser will be the Japanese fishermen, the biggest loser will be the people of Japan, the biggest loser will be Japan itself. So this is not a good decision for the Japanese people.
Japanese professors, Japanese nuclear scientists, will also prefer if Japan stores it for at least 10 more years, till the level of radiation goes down until better technologies come out.
So the countries who are directly affected, they should carry out all scientific research and simulations to actually study the effect on marine life. I think that's very important.
If this thing had happened in China, you would hear it on all the channels that you could think of. So I think it's very favorable treatment to Japan. And it ignores the interest of the local people who are affected by this, the countries who are affected by this."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Islamabad.
(XHTV)