Water that has caused a lot of ink to flow between China and Japan: that of the discharge of treated water, but still slightly contaminated, from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean. The operation is due to begin this summer. It triggered a veritable diplomatic guerrilla war of experts between the two countries.
From our correspondent in Beijing,
The tsunami of March 11, 2011 marked the memories in the North-East of Asia. We especially remember the nuclear disaster that followed and the phenomenal amount of water it took to cool the three melting reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. Rainwater, groundwater, in total more than a million tons of water contaminated by radioactive elements will be diluted in the ocean over ten years, the Japanese authorities decided two years ago, April 13, 2021 A decision that Beijing describes as unilateral and irresponsible.
► Our file on the Fukushima disaster and its aftermath
” Japan unilaterally decided to dump the contaminated water into the ocean, in complete disregard of the interests of the people of China and other countries around the world, said Sun Xiaobo, director of the arms control department at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The disposal of Fukushima’s contaminated water is by no means a private Japanese matter. »
The Japanese experts want to be reassuring. They claim that the contaminated and treated water contains very little radioactive material, mainly tritium. According a document compiled by the Japanese government, Chinese nuclear power plants would release tritium-containing water at levels 6.5 times higher than the expected release at Fukushima.
” The water to be discharged after treatment, once diluted in seawater, is harmless to the environment and human health. This whole process is subject to scrutiny by the IAEA. The only risk is related to misinformation that harms the reputation and lives of Fukushima residents said a Japanese official during a briefing organized by the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
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reputation at stake
The main risk for Tokyo, and what worries the Japanese government, is the impact it will have on the image of Japan and the fishing and agricultural sectors in particular. According to a survey produced by the Japanese authorities, what the inhabitants of Fukushima fear most is, for 41% of them, reputational and economic damage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had also recommended this option of a “ controlled release at sea among the five options put forward for disposing of Fukushima’s radioactive water, including injection into the geosphere, burial underground, evaporation into the atmosphere. But the Chinese side is not convinced by the so-called ALPLS water treatment system (Advanced Liquid Processing System). China also gave a press conference on the subject during which was mentioned an alarmist German study stating that within fifty days after the reversal, the radioactive material would spread throughout the entire Pacific Ocean and within ten years in the waters around the world.
For Li Chijiang, secretary general of a think-tank on arms control and proliferation attached to the Chinese government, “ the release of contaminated water wanted by Japan amounts to releasing a giant in the Pacific Ocean: a kind of Godzilla which constitutes a serious risk for people and for the marine environment. The committee of experts appointed by the Japanese government recognized that the return to the ocean was the cheapest solution. But the Pacific Ocean is not Japan’s trash can. »
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” The Ocean is a common good and not the private sewer of Japan “, said the spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy on June 7, answering a question from the GlobalTimes. However, for the representatives of the Japanese electrician Tepco, the dilution of treated water is indeed the safest solution. “ The Japanese government spent more than six years studying what kind of method existed for the dumping of tanks, explains a Tepco expert. So it is not because dumping in the ocean is a less expensive method that we have chosen it, but because it is the safest. We based ourselves on technical feasibility and safety before making this decision. »
This diplomatic and media battle is also part of a broader context of tensions in the region. Chinese diplomacy has expressed its concern in issues produced jointly with Russia and North Korea, in particular. Concern for South Korea too, even if there is a recent rapprochement between Seoul and Tokyo. While in Japan, some argue that Fukushima water is used by China in the larger context of its standoff with the United States. ” On many occasions, we wanted to organize meetings between experts from the two countries, assures Japanese diplomacy. We were never answered “.
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