Japan - August 21, 2024

Several civic groups in Japan jointly submitted a petition signed by over 200,000 people to the government on Wednesday against the dumping of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the sea.

In August 2023, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) began discharging water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear accident.

So far, TEPCO has conducted six rounds of releases, discharging a total of about 46,000 tons of the contaminated wastewater, and in fiscal 2024, it plans to discharge a total of 46,800 tons of the water in six rounds.

In interviews with China Central Television (CCTV) after their meeting with Japanese officials, representatives of civil society groups expressed concern about the discharge process and its potential dangers.

Hit by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which is now stored in tanks at the nuclear plant.

Shotlist:
Fukushima, Japan – Aug 21, 2024:
1. Meeting in process;
2. Various of petitions;
3. Representative handing petition to official;
4. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) resident in Fukushima Prefecture (name not given):
"No matter how much they are diluted, toxic substances remain toxic substances. Therefore, I oppose the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. In order for our children and grandchildren to eat safe seafood in the future, we must ensure the safety of the marine environment. So no matter how [the substances] are diluted, no matter where they are discharged, I think it is not allowed.";
5. Various of meeting in process;
6. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Masashi Tsunoda, co-representative, Fukushima Prefecture Peace Forum:
"TEPCO has been discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea in the process of dismantling its nuclear reactors. We proposed many alternative treatment methods, but none of them was adopted. They chose only to discharge into the ocean without listening to the opinions of Fukushima residents.";
FILE: Fukushima, Japan - Feb 6, 2024
7. Various of nuclear-contaminated water storage tanks, facilities;
8. Various of Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) facilities.

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