China’s Pacific tour sparks hopes, fears in tiny island nations
Al JazeeraFEB 23 2022
On Thursday, in an address to the UN General Assembly, Micronesia's Pres. David Panuelo criticized Japan's plan to release water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Panuelo asserted that Micronesia has the "gravest concern" about the proposed water release, saying that "we cannot close our eyes to the unimaginable threats of nuclear contamination, marine pollution, and eventual destruction of the Blue Pacific Continent."
In July, Japan's nuclear regulating agency approved a multi-year plan to release water that was contaminated, but since treated, at the crippled Fukushima plant. The water contains the difficult-to-remove element tritium, albeit below an allowed threshold.
Japan's release of tritium into the Pacific would be an irrevocable disaster for both marine ecosystems and humans alike. Micronesia and other members of the "Blue Continent" of Oceania have rightly assessed that short-term costs are being prioritized over long-term and wide-ranging damages. The Pacific must not become a dumping ground for nuclear waste.
Japan's decommissioning of the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is a painstaking and necessary process. The 40-year-long water release is a realistic solution that will be carried out to the highest safety protocols and in partnership with the IAEA. The optics are terrible, but Japan cares deeply about the fishing industry and its neighbors. The safe decommissioning of Fukushima is in the interest of the region and the world.