Politics and science clash in controversy over Japan’s Fukushima wastewater release plan, say experts

Experts remain split on Japan’s decision to manage wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by releasing it into the Pacific Ocean, as the operation commenced on Thursday .

The plan to release the wastewater was approved two years ago by the Japanese government, as a crucial part of the plant’s decommissioning process.Curtin University’s Associate Professor of Physics Nigel Marks said he is “very happy” with the way parties such as“The plan is safe from a technical and a scientific point of view, and that's been confirmed by lots of people who understand what's going on at a deep level,” he told CNA’s Asia First on Thursday.

“I think the most useful independent assessment has been conducted by several very well regarded international scientists in a scientific independent expert panel commissioned by the Pacific Islands Forum, who engaged in detail with the Japanese government, with Tepco, with the IAEA, and have written a number of very forthright and illuminating reports that make it clear that we really don't know exactly what's in all of those tanks,” he said.

Another method was to use the water to produce mortar, which will keep the waste in solid form to prevent it from leaking, or to use it for concrete in structural applications where much of the radioactivity would be contained without any transboundary or transgenerational pollution issues, said Dr Ruff.

Foreign media crews wearing protective suits prepare to film the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. “One of the things that hasn't been reported is that there were five people on that panel, and most of the reports that received the press are from four of them who were vehemently opposed to the release, and I would say had made up their minds before we even started,” he said.

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