The Japanese government explained to the embassies of 18 countries that the discharge of nuclear polluted water into the sea was ＂very harmless＂

Overseas network reported on November 21 that it has been eight years since the Fukushima nuclear accident, but there are still a large number of pollutants waiting to be treated in Fukushima Prefecture. Especially recently, the outside world has been worried about the large amount of radioactive cooling water stored in the water tank of Fukushima nuclear power plant. On November 21, the Japanese government convened embassies in Tokyo to hold a briefing on the current situation and how to deal with these sewage, and once again said at the meeting that discharging polluted water into the sea was "very harmful".

According to a report by Japan’s Sankei Shimbun on the 21st, foreign embassies attending the briefing came from 18 countries and regions. The heads of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Electric Power Company said at the meeting that the total amount of tritium in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is 860 Mbeki, and even if it is completely discharged into the ocean within one year, the radiation amount is about 0.052-0.62 microsieverts. However, the natural amount of radiation received in normal life is 2100 microsieverts a year.

The Japanese government distributed relevant data to the personnel of foreign embassies, and said that from the data point of view, "(polluted water discharged into the ocean) is very harmless."

If the polluted water is really discharged, is it necessary to reprocess other radioactive substances except tritium? Some foreign embassy staff asked "how can Japan ensure the effectiveness of reprocessing work?" The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan replied that it is feasible to use the new sewage treatment equipment "Multi-nuclide Removal Equipment (ALPS)".

Earlier reports said that more than eight years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan has not yet decided how to deal with these radioactive waters. A working group of the Japanese government has selected five options, including discharging cooling water into the Pacific Ocean.

Four reactors of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have been melted down, so it is necessary to continuously inject water into them in order to keep the fuel inside the reactors cool. Since the disaster, radioactive water has leaked from the reactor and mixed with groundwater and rainwater. And this nuclear power plant has accumulated more than 1 million tons of water in nearly 1000 water tanks. The water has been treated, but it still contains some radioactive elements. Tokyo Electric Power Company also said that by 2022, the water storage space will be exhausted.

The last time the Japanese government convened embassy staff from various countries to attend the Fukushima nuclear accident briefing was in September this year (2019), when diplomats from 22 countries and regions participated. The briefing on the 21st will be the 104th so far.

The Japanese government has always said that it is harmless to discharge polluted sewage from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. Japan’s Ministry of Industry said that the discharge of water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear accident into the sea meets safety standards, and stressed that the risk of such discharge to human health is minimal.

South Korea has repeatedly expressed its concern about the environmental impact of this move. In September this year, Japanese and South Korean officials had a heated discussion on this issue at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna. In the same month, then Japanese Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada said that there was no other choice but to discharge sewage into the sea, which also caused great controversy.

(The original title of this article is "Japanese government explained to 18 embassies: the discharge of nuclear polluted water into the sea is" very harmless ").