STORY: Japan's dumping of nuke wastewater draws ire from int'l community
DATELINE: Aug. 24, 2023
LENGTH: 00:04:42
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: POLITICS/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant
2. various of protesters
3. STANDUP 1 (English): ZHANG LI, Xinhua correspondent
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ZAFAR ULLAH KORESHI, Dean of Graduate Studies, Air University, Pakistan
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LEONARD SIMANJUNTAK, Country Director of Greenpeace Indonesia
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): Prof. TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU, Department of Biological Sciences at University of South Carolina
7. SOUNDBITE 4 (Japanese): MIZUHO FUKUSHIMA, Head of Social Democratic Party
"Radioactive materials, once discharged, cannot be retrieved, so they must be intensively managed. Such materials would be beyond management if they are discharged into the ocean. We can't allow such a thing to happen."
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (Korean): KIM YOUNG-CHUL, Executive Chief, Federation of Korean Fishermen's Associations
9. SOUNDBITE 6 (Bahasa Indonesia): KEVIN SIDABUTAR, Protester
10. STANDUP 2 (English): ZHANG LI, Xinhua correspondent
11. SOUNDBITE 7 (English): KALINGA SENEVIRATNE, Consultant with journalism program at the University of the South Pacific
12. SOUNDBITE 8 (English): LULUK NUR HAMIDAH, Member of House of Representatives of Indonesia
13. SOUNDBITE 9 (English): KHALID WALEED, Lead researcher of Energy Unit, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan

STORYLINE:

STANDUP 1 (English): ZHANG LI, Xinhua correspondent
"Despite waves of opposition and criticism, Japan started discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on Thursday.
The tainted water contains hard-to-move radioactive tritium as it was used to cool down melted nuclear fuel at the stricken plant."

SOUNDBITE 1 (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 2 (English): LEONARD SIMANJUNTAK, Country Director of Greenpeace Indonesia
"There is almost certain accumulation of contaminated substance, and we're talking about radioactive (substance) here."

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."

The safety and legitimacy of the plan has been questioned over and over again by the international community.

It has also sparked waves of protests both at home and abroad.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Japanese): MIZUHO FUKUSHIMA, Head of Social Democratic Party
"Radioactive materials, once discharged, cannot be retrieved, so they must be intensively managed. Such materials would be beyond management if they are discharged into the ocean. We can't allow such a thing to happen."

SOUNDBITE 5 (Korean): KIM YOUNG-CHUL, Executive Chief, Federation of Korean Fishermen's Associations
"The ocean is the home of our lives. I have lived all my life with gratitude to the ocean that is like family and friend, and also my workplace. If Japan discharges Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater, it will become a sea of death. Fishermen will also be dead."

SOUNDBITE 6 (Bahasa Indonesia): KEVIN SIDABUTAR, Protester
"We demanded that Japan should not release the waste into the Pacific Ocean because there are countries bordering the ocean such as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, China, and Indonesia. I do not want it to pollute the fish in our ocean ecosystem. Our ocean is vast and rich."

STANDUP 2 (English): ZHANG LI, Xinhua correspondent
"If the nuclear-contaminated water is as safe as Japan claims, why don't they take it for domestic use or discharge it into domestic lakes? Moreover, the discharge plan is not even the only feasible choice for the country."

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry offered five disposal options, and experts from neighboring countries proposed safer and more prudent plans such as long-term storage.

However, without fully assessing the alternatives, the Japanese government has chosen the cheapest way out.

SOUNDBITE 7 (English): KALINGA SENEVIRATNE, Consultant with journalism program at the University of the South Pacific
"What Japan is doing what I see is, in the international context, quite an irresponsible thing."

SOUNDBITE 8 (English): LULUK NUR HAMIDAH, Member of House of Representatives of Indonesia
"This issue of what we call radioactive disposal is against even our laws, against our national interest, and it also will be damaging and destroying the fishermen and also our fish, our ocean, and also the coastline as well."

SOUNDBITE 9 (English): KHALID WALEED, Lead researcher of Energy Unit, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan
"Specifically, the Japanese government should address all the concerns raised by the Pacific Islands Forum, and all the concerning and neighboring countries in terms of data availability, in terms of site visits, in terms of research on the contaminated water. I think if Japan wants to ensure openness, transparency, all the neighboring countries, all the Pacific Islands Forum countries, they should be involved in this process, because this is not just the Japanese issue, this is the global issue."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)