Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is planning to dump radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga states that the disposal is “unavoidable.”

In 2011, an earthquake-triggered tsunami inflicted heavy damage on the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station, and over a million tons of water was contaminated with radioactive material. Except tritium, a weak radioactive carcinogenic, most harmful substances were able to be processed. Though it is a common radioactive element, tritium in any concentration has never had any harmful effects on humans or the environment.

Although TEPCO’s approach to disposing the radioactive water is legal and technically harmless, there are many who oppose it.

Fishing groups in Fukushima express strong opposition in fear that the release would further damage their business and reputation; people will be deterred from food they know has been caught in radioactive waters. Furthermore, most surveys show that the majority of the public is against the plan and very few in support of it.

People outside of Japan are also voicing their concerns. South Korean officials and the public strongly object to the release. A protestor at a rally near the Japanese embassy in Seoul says, “The sea is not a trash can. The Japanese government has no right at all to dirty the waters.” The Chinese government also expresses disapproval, urging Japan to “fulfill its international obligations, and duly respond to the serious concerns of the international community, neighboring countries, and its own people.”

In the same vein, Jang, a sophomore at OCSA, comments, “It [the release] is gonna affect all of us--not just Japan. From what I’ve heard, they don’t have an agreement with all of the other nations, so I’m not sure why other countries like the U.S. aren’t acting on it.”

Disposing radioactive water into the ocean sounds like a hazardous, reckless plan, but it is, like Prime Minister Suga said, unavoidable.

Storing millions of tons of contaminated water poses greater risks to the nation in comparison to releasing it in small, diluted amounts over thirty years like TEPCO’s plan details. Though people have the right to be concerned, the stigma surrounding the disposal is far more detrimental than its environmental effect.

<Katie Kim / OCSA 10th Grade>