STORY: Japan's nuke wastewater discharge encouraged by U.S. to destabilize region: Turkish scholar
DATELINE: July 19, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:43
LOCATION: ISTANBUL, Türkiye
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of Japan's dumping nuclear waste into the sea
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
4. various of people against Japan's dumping nuclear waste into the sea
 
STORYLINE:
 
A scholar at Istanbul's Marmara University has said that Japan's decision to dump Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea is actually the result of the encouragement and provocation it receives from the U.S. to destabilize the region.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
"It is surprising that the move came at a time when the environment, nature, clean oceans, sustainable development and industrialization in harmony with nature are being so emphasized in the world. Under such circumstances, for Japan to take such steps - even after the disaster at its nuclear Fukushima power plant in recent years - it seems to me that is not only Japan's plan but also an effort by the U.S. to further destabilize the region."
 
The scholar also criticized Japan for not transparently sharing the plan's details with international institutions and other countries.
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
"A country like Japan, which has experience in nuclear power plants, has technology in these matters and has also had a headache in these topics, should, of course, have shared these developments with neighboring countries. Such responsibility is required as a matter of good neighborly relations and as a matter of international agreements and conventions. Not sharing the details is a big mistake, a big deficiency."
 
The Japanese government announced in January that it would release radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean this year.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Istanbul, Türkiye.
(XHTV)