Alternatives To Dumping #Fukushima Wastewater Into The #Pacific

#Japan plans to dump treated, #radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific. but it could be used in other ways instead.

By CodeBlue | 12 April 2023

"Claims of total safety are not supported by the available information. The world’s #oceans are shared among all, providing over 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe, and a diversity of resources of economic, #ecological and #cultural value for present and future generations.

"Within the #PacificIslands in particular, the ocean is viewed as connecting, rather than separating, widely distributed populations.

"Releasing #radioactive contaminated water into the Pacific is an irreversible action with transboundary and #transgenerational implications. As such, it should not be unilaterally undertaken by any country.

"The #PacificIslandsForum has had the foresight to ask the relevant questions on how this activity could affect the lives and livelihoods of their peoples now and into the future. It has drawn on a panel of five independent experts to provide it with the critical information it needs to perform its due diligence.

"No one is questioning the integrity of Japanese or International Atomic Energy Agency scientists [I am], but the belief that our oceans’ capacity to receive limitless quantities of #pollutants without detrimental effects is demonstrably false.

"For example, tuna and other large ocean fish contain enough mercury from land-based sources to require people, especially pregnant women and young children, to limit their consumption. #Tuna have also been found to transport #radionuclides from Fukushima across the Pacific to California.

"Phytoplankton, microscopic organisms that float free in the ocean, can capture and accumulate a variety of radioactive elements found in the Fukushima cooling water, including #tritium and carbon-14.

"#Phytoplankton is the base for all marine food webs. When they are eaten, the contaminants would not be broken down, but stay in the cells of organisms, accumulating in a variety of invertebrates, fish, marine mammals and humans. Marine sediments can also be a repository for radionuclides, and provide a means of transfer to bottom-feeding organisms."
#PacificOcean #FukushimaWater #TEPCOLies #OpTEPCO #Japan #NoNukes #NoDumping #Bioaccumulation

Read more: https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2023/04/12/alternatives-to-dumping-fukushima-wastewater-into-the-pacific/