STORY: Turkish expert voices concerns about Japan's radioactive wastewater discharge plan
DATELINE: Aug. 17, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:46
LOCATION: ISTANBUL, Türkiye
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of fisherboats
2. various of the gathering
3. SOUNDBITE (Turkish): MURAT KAPIKIRAN, Head of Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers
4. various of fish markets
5. various of coasts
 
STORYLINE:
 
A Turkish expert has voiced concerns about Japan's intentions to dump more than 1 million metric tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
 
Murat Kapikiran, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, stressed that if the radioactive wastewater is released into the ocean, damage could be done to all ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean.
 
SOUNDBITE (Turkish): MURAT KAPIKIRAN, Head of Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers
"It will have a huge impact on the plant populations used in sushi products that Japan provides to the world. The nuclear material that accumulates in the leaves can definitely endanger human health or the superstructures in the human food chain and can cause cancer.
 
The pollution will have a substantial negative impact on fish nests along the coasts, especially in the Pacific, and will be lethal. It can be said very clearly that it will significantly affect fish eggs and cause mutations in fish and aquatic plant populations and cause serious disruptions in the biological and genetic structure."
 
Amid wide criticism from both home and abroad, the Japanese government has been pushing to dump the nuclear-contaminated wastewater this summer from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was hit by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Istanbul, Türkiye.
(XHTV)