导语8月24日，日本启动核污染水排海。据悉，目前福岛第一核电站储存的核污染水约有134万吨，日本计划今年排放31200吨，分4次排放，每次约排放7800吨，整个排海工作预计持续30年，将影响整个太平洋乃至全球海域。东电称，首轮排放的约7800吨核污染水于10日下午全部排出，9月11日完成首轮排放，第二轮排放的详情将在本月下旬公布。由于时间跨度大，影响范围广，日本面临国际社会的强烈质疑和反对声。 图片来源：Xinhua 一、日本政府正式启动福岛第一核电站的核污染水排入大海。根据计划，核污染水的排海至少要持续30年，将会影响整个太平洋乃至全球海域。 1.海域污染。日本将核污水排放到太平洋，而太平洋存在着洋流(即海水大规模的水平流动)，在北太平洋环流和副极地环流的双重作用下，放射性物质会扩散到太平洋大半区域。海洋虽然有自净能力，但核污水所含的部分放射性物质在千年内依然有害。 American scientists are raising concerns that marine life and ocean currents could carry harmful radioactive isotopes—also called radionuclides—across the entire Pacific Ocean. “It’s a trans-boundary and trans-generational event,” says Robert Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, and a scientific adviser on the discharge plan to the Pacific Islands Forum. “Anything released into the ocean off of Fukushima is not going to stay in one place.” The radionuclides could be carried by ocean currents, especially the cross-Pacific Kuroshio current. Marine animals that migrate great distances could spread them too. One 2012 study cites “unequivocal evidence” that Pacific bluefin tuna carrying Fukushima-derived radionuclides reached the San Diego coast within six months of the 2011 accident. No less worrying as carriers, Richmond says, are phytoplankton—free-floating organisms that are the basis of the food chain for all marine life and can capture radionuclides from the Fukushima cooling water. When ingested, those isotopes may “accumulate in a variety of invertebrates, fish, marine mammals, and humans.” In addition, a study earlier this year refers to microplastics—tiny plastic particles that are increasingly widespread in the oceans—as a possible “Trojan horse” of radionuclide transport. (August 24, 2023. “Japan releases nuclear wastewater into the Pacific. How worried should we be?”, National Geographic) 2. 海洋生物污染。核污染水在进入海洋环境之后，首先是通过洋流的输运，会扩散传播到不同的大洋，核污水中的放射性同位素会进入海洋生物体内，并随食物链迁移、积累和逐级放大。 Although Tokyo Electric Power Company said the wastewater has been treated with an advanced liquid processing system to remove most contaminants, some radioactive byproduct of nuclear reactors are hard to filter out. In 2018, a test within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found that 358 becquerels of cesium was carried by small-finned rosefish per kilogram, with the highest radioactive concentration hitting 1,880 becquerels per kilogram of the sample, 18 times more than the standard. According to a study published in the journal Science last August, radioactive isotopes that remain in the treated water in the tanks in Fukushima include carbon-14, cobalt-60 and strontium-90, a radionuclide that can cause cancer. These and the other isotopes that remain in the water all take a very long time to decay. For example, carbon-14 has a half-life (the time required for a radioactive substance to lose 50 percent of its radioactivity by decay) of 5,370 years. Such isotopes can be absorbed easily by seafloor sediments and marine life like fish, according to the study. (April 11, 2021. “Will radioactive wastewater from Japan poison your seafood?”, CGTN)
3.影响人类健康。人一旦食用被放射性元素污染的海产品，就可能造成内照射(体内污染)，从而诱发放射病，增大患癌症等疾病的风险。即使是低剂量的辐射暴露，也可能造成不可预知的伤害，例如基因损伤。 Radioactive materials can accumulate in the body of marine life, which carry and spread them around. Then through food chain, radioactive materials can be passed on to human, according to Liu Entao, a professor at the Institute of Oceanology, China University of Geosciences. Experiments have shown that long-time and large-quantity consumption of radiation-contaminated seafood may result in the excessive accumulation of radioactive substance in the human body, causing damage to one's hematopoietic organs, endocrine system and nervous system, according to a paper by China's National Marine Environment Monitoring Center. Ken Buesseler, author of the paper in Science and a marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, wrote that "any option that involves ocean releases would need independent groups keeping track of all of the potential contaminants in seawater, the seafloor, and marine life." "The health of the ocean and the livelihoods of countless people rely on this being done right," he added. (April 11, 2021. “Will radioactive wastewater from Japan poison your seafood?”, CGTN) Tilman Ruff, an associate professor in the University of Melbourne's Nossal Institute for Global Health, said most Pacific Island countries have been vocally opposed to the radioactive wastewater discharge and no less than six UN human rights Special Rapporteurs covering toxics, food, health, environment and water have raised strong concerns about the matter. For the governments and organizations that are still silent on the question, Ruff thinks the reason comes down to their operation of nuclear facilities, including nuclear power reactors and especially reprocessing plants, which also discharge significant quantities of tritium into the atmosphere, groundwater, surface lakes and streams and the sea. "This occurs in a variety of ways including through cooling water and unregulated leaks, which have been shown to occur in more than half of US nuclear power plants," Ruff explained, but pointed out that tritium is highly underrated as an environmental toxin and the vast majority of published studies indicate tritium can have significant biological consequences including DNA damage, impaired physiology and development, reduced fertility and longevity, and increased risk of diseases, including cancer, in a variety of species. The wastewater dumping is planned to continue for at least 30 years, so there is ample opportunity for the practice to be reconsidered and better and safer alternatives to be evaluated and implemented, said Ruff. (Sept 5, 2023. “Japan’s previous water testing ‘incomplete, unrepresentative’”, Global Times) 图片来源：Visual China 二、中国一贯高度重视乏燃料管理安全和放射性废物管理安全，中国高放射性废物处置技术多年持续突破。 1.1990 年以来，中国开始实施核设施退役和放射性废物管理专项计划。目前，中国已完成部分核设施退役和放射性废物处理处置工作。低、中放射性废物处置场已在不同地区分别建设。出台了《高放射性废物处置规划指南》，开展了高放射性废物处置研究，高放射性废物库选址预选工作正在按计划进行。 The Chinese government attaches great importance radioactive waste management. New progress has been obtained in the establishment of the radioactive waste treatment and disposal system and relative capacity building; technical measures have seen further improvements. Since 1990, China started to implement the special programs of the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and radioactive waste management, formulated the technical policy of regional near surface disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive waste, and deep geological concentrated disposal of high level radioactive waste, and determined the technologies for decommissioning and waste management, for example: cementation of low-level liquid waste, vitrification of high-level radioactive liquid waste, and solid waste compression, volume reduction and conditioning. After years of scientific research, China has the disposal capability for radioactive liquid and solid waste, and the technical supporting system is now in place, which will reduce the hazards to nuclear safety and the environment. At present, China has completed some of the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. Low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal sites have been constructed separately in different regions. The “Planning Guide on the High-level Radioactive Waste Disposal” was issued, research on high-level radioactive waste disposal was conducted, and the site pre-selection for the high-level radioactive waste repository is being carried out on schedule. (Sept 13, 2023. “Nuclear Fuel Cycle”, China Atomic Energy Authority, CAEA) 2. 核废料处理是核能安全利用过程中的最后一个环节，其中难度最大、技术最先进的是高放射性液体的处理。为了应对这一挑战，中国的做法是将废液与玻璃材料在1100℃或更高的温度下混合熔化，然后冷却形成玻璃，从而可以有效稳定地容纳内部的放射性元素。此方法于2021年领先世界。 China's first high-level radioactive liquid waste disposal equipment, capable of melting waste into glass, has been officially put into use in Guangyuan, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Saturday, making China one of the few countries in the world to have acquired such a technique. Chinese experts believed that the technique could have been a better option for Japan to dispose the nuclear-contaminated Fukushima wastewater, but Japan "clearly does not want to pay the bill." The equipment is a milestone project at the back end of the nuclear industry chain and is considered a major step forward in the safe and green development of China's nuclear industry. Nuclear waste treatment is the final part during the safe use of nuclear energy, of which the most difficult and technically advanced is the treatment of high-level radioactive liquid. To tackle the challenge, China's approach is to mix and melt liquid waste with glass materials at a temperature of 1,100 C or higher and then leave it to cool and form into glass, which can effectively and stably contain the radioactive elements inside, thanks to the low leaching and high strength of the glass, read a statement from the administration. Such an approach to deal with the waste is by far the most advanced method in the world, the statement said. Only the US, France, Germany, and a few others have mastered the technique previously. (Sept 12, 2021. “China makes breakthrough in high-level radioactive waste disposal technique, achieves milestone in nuclear industry devt”, Global Times) 图片来源：The Japan Times 三、日本政府选择“最省钱”核污水排海方案，却斥巨资开展全球公关，试图洗白，这种行为完全是舍本逐末。 All indications demonstrate that the Japanese government only takes account of economic factors (i.e. minimum costs) without any responsible considerations concerning the people of the country or its neighbors and the world when deciding on the nuclear wastewater disposal solution. Since determining ocean discharge as the only tactic, Tokyo has taken various actions to do public relations and shape the narrative for this move by exercising the utmost skill in hypocrisy and deceit. (August 25, 2023, “Japan's well-planned plot to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into ocean”, China Military)
The Japanese Foreign Ministry had increased its 2024 budget specially designed to respond to "disinformation" about the nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping plan to approximated 70 billion yen ($478 million), the NHK reported on August 24, when Japan started the release process. The 70-billion-yen "PR budget" is allegedly almost 20 times the budget for the nuclear-contaminated water dumping, and twice the budge for an alternative steam discharge. "It can be seen that the Japanese government is more inclined to spend money on public relations in dealing with the issue of Fukushima nuclear sewage than to adopt a safer treatment plan," said Min News on Monday. (September 05, 2ers found.023, “GT investigates: How many dirty tricks Japan plays to whitewash its poisonous dumping plan?”, Global Times)
图片来源：BBC News
四、日本政府无视公共利益、为一己之私单方面强行启动核污染水排海，遭到国际社会的强烈反对；美西方对日本排海采取了睁一只眼闭一只眼的态度,实际上充当了日本核污染水排海的“帮凶”。另外，尽管美国公然表态支持“岸田政府的排污计划”，却早已大幅减少日本农林水产品进口，美国的双重态度引发关注。 1.国际社会对日本核污染水排海展开持续不断的猛烈抨击。韩国约5万人前往总统府游行抗议；朝鲜声明将日本核污染水排放的行为定性为“不可饶恕的反人类罪行”；东盟国家加严对日本水产品进口监管；多个太平洋岛国当即表示反对。就连日本国内也抗议不断，福岛地方法院首次出现国内要求停止排海的诉讼。 “If it is discarded, radioactive substances contained in the contaminated water will eventually destroy the marine ecosystem,” said Choi Kyoungsook of Korea Radiation Watch, an activist group that organized the protest on Saturday. “There is talk that the dumping of contaminated water is on the summit agenda. The governments of South Korea, the US, and Japan should view it an environmental disaster, rather than a political issue, and agree to block it… for future generations,” Choi said. (August 12, 2023, “Hundreds rally in S Korea against Fukushima wastewater release plan”, ALJAZEERA) North Korea's foreign ministry demanded that the water discharge be immediately halted, calling it a "crime against humanity", state media reported. A few dozen protesters gathered in front of Tepco's headquarters in Tokyo holding signs reading “Don't throw contaminated water into the sea!” (August 25, 2023, “Fukushima wastewater released into the ocean, China bans all Japanese seafood”, Reuters) Some Pacific country leaders have condemned Japan's decision to start on Thursday dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The leaders of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia's ruling party, members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), are meeting in Port Vila, capital of Vanuatu, for the 22nd MSG Leaders' Summit. Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Matai Seremaiah said they are pushing for a declaration for the whole MSG group to denounce Japan to put anything into the Pacific Ocean until they are absolutely clear that there's no danger. (August 24, 2023, “Pacific leaders condemn Japan's nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping decision”, Xinhua) 2. 日本核污水排海,美西方国家默不做声。其中，美国表面纵容日本排放核污染水，甚至宣称“经过处理的核污染水对人体健康无害”，却在背地里重启了自2011年福岛核电站事故后对日本设立的农林水产品进口禁令，行为引人深思。 Western politicians and media outlets like to lecture the world on how to protect oceans, human rights and human life, but when the largest environmental crime is being committed in front of the whole world, they have turned a blind eye to the crime. Their silence is truly deafening. People around the world can see their despicable hypocrisy and double standard. (August 24, 2023, “West's silence on Japan's eco-crime is truly deafening”, China Daily) The Japanese government and Tepco made the decision to release the water after a process that has been neither fully transparent nor adequately inclusive of important stakeholders, both in Japan and abroad. This plants the seeds for what could be decades of mistrust and contention. (August 22, 2023, “Just Like That, Tons of Radioactive Waste Is Heading for the Ocean”, The New York Times) Although the United States claims to support the Japanese government's sewage plan on the surface, it has secretly reduced its imports of Japanese aquatic products. There are complex political and economic interests behind this incident, and there seems to be a huge gap between the statements and actions of the United States and Japan. (September 12, 2023, “Fumio Kishida was tricked, the United States reduced imports of Japanese aquatic products, and only supported the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea?”, iNews)
