Page 29 - IB December 2022

Nuclear Nuclear

As they met with TEPCO and Japanese authorities, the ex- sands of times the background level that you find naturally
pert panel raised a series of concerns: about the failure to ac- or through historic nuclear testing,” he explained “and then
curately sample different radioisotopes in the storage tanks; you’re going to discharge it for many decades.”
the level of radioactive contamination in sludge at the bottom Makhijani told Islands Business that “you have to do an
of the tanks; and the models used to estimate how elements ecosystem assessment, both for sediments and for vegetal
like tritium will disperse and dilute in the vast Pacific Ocean. and animal biota that travel. None of that has been done. In
For Arjun Makhijani, the Japanese authorities have not TEPCO’s Environmental Impact Assessment, they did not take
provided enough information to ascertain what range and account of any bioaccumulation of tritium, which does occur
amounts of radionuclides will be found in each tank. Only nine in all organisms. The question of bioconcentration in an ocean
of 64 radionuclides are included in the data that has been environment was totally ignored in the statement.”
shared with the Pacific Islands Forum.
“The vast majority of radionuclides are not being measured, Threat to fisheries
according to the Japanese authorities themselves,” Makhi- The stakes are high and Pacific governments and businesses
jani said. “In summary, most of the tanks have never been are worried about transboundary and reputational harm to
sampled. The sampling that they do is non-representative of the fishing industry in Japan and the wider Pacific region.
the water in the tanks and when they were stored. Are the This long-term threat to the ocean environment is echoed by
measurements of what’s in the tanks accurate? The answer to expert panel member Robert Richmond from the University of
this is no.” Hawai’i at Manoa in Honolulu.
“This is truly a trans-boundary issue,” said Dr. Richmond
Tritium and other radionuclides last May. “Fish don’t respect political lines, and neither do
The bulk of the radioactivity measured in the wastewater radionuclides or pollutants in the ocean. I really commend the
is from two isotopes: tritium and carbon-14. However current members of the Pacific Islands Forum for recognising that this
data shows there is a complex mix of other highly radioactive is an issue that they need additional information on.”
isotopes in the tanks, including Strontium-90, Cesium-134, Ce- Richmond writes: “The world’s oceans are shared among
sium-137, Cobalt 60 and even Tellurium-217 (a fission product all people, providing over 50% of the oxygen we breathe, and
with a short half-life, which should not be present after years a diversity of resources of economic, ecological and cultural
of storage). value for present and future generations. Releasing radioac-
The expert panel has reported that some tanks low in tri- tive contaminated water into the Pacific is an irreversible
tium are high in Strontium-90 and vice versa, concluding “the action with transboundary and transgenerational implica-
assumption that concentrations of the other radionuclides are tions. As such, it should not be unilaterally undertaken by any
constant is not correct and a full assessment of all radioiso- country.”
topes is needed to evaluate the true risk factors.” Soon after the 2011 Fukushima accident, marine scientists
Another problem is that particles in the water may settle to confirmed that Pacific bluefin tuna can transport radionuclides
the bottom of the storage tanks over time, creating contami- across the entire northern Pacific Ocean. A 2012 study from
nated sludge. Japanese authorities have confirmed that tanks Stanford University reported that tuna with traces of Fuku-
filled with cooling water in the years immediately after the shima-related contamination had been found on the shores
2011 accident contain contaminated sediment. Makhijani of the United States, noting: “Pacific bluefin tuna can rapidly
notes “the sludges were not sampled then and have not been transport radionuclides from a point source in Japan to dis-
sampled since that time. How much of these sludges will be tant ecoregions and demonstrate the importance of migratory
stirred up and complicate the filtration system as you pump animals as transport vectors of radionuclides.”
out the water from the tanks? This issue has not been ad- Church and civil society groups, including the Pacific Con-
dressed.” ference of Churches, Pacific Islands Association of Non-Gov-
TEPCO plans to filter out most isotopes but dump vast ernment Organisations and Pacific Network on Globalisation,
amounts of tritium into the Pacific, relying on rapid disper- have all criticised the proposed wastewater dumping plan,
sion and dilution in the ocean. Many scientists, however, are damaging Japan’s diplomatic reputation as a key development
critical of the model used to measure the dilution of tritium partner.
in seawater. When Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi visited
Japan’s plans are currently based on models using interna- Fiji last May, community groups argued the proposed ocean
tional standards for how much naturally occurring tritium can dumping breached international agreements such as the
be safely ingested in drinking water. In contrast, environmen- London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution. A
tal critics are concerned that tritium and other radioactive joint civil society statement concluded: “We believe there is
isotopes will accumulate in ocean sediments, fish and other no scenario in which discharging nuclear waste into the Pacific
marine biota. Dr. Makhijani says the expert panel was con- Ocean is justified for the health, wellbeing, and future safety
cerned that the proposed drinking water standard for tritium of Pacific peoples and the environment.”
does not apply to ocean ecosystems.
“The discharged concentration of tritium will be thou- nicmaclellan@optusnet.com.au

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