Environmental groups would rally in Fiji on Friday to protest Japan’s decision to release treated cooling water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed on Tuesday the country would start discharging the water into the Pacific from Thursday.
Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority had recently given the green light for the release.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), dumping the water does not pose any danger to humans or the environment.
On Wednesday, an alliance of environmental justice and human rights advocates called for protests to plead for international intervention to stop the discharge.
“We call on everyone concerned about the future of the Pacific, our generations to come, our island ecosystems and sources of livelihood to show up,’’ the alliance said.
However, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said he supported the IAEA report.
“There are constant references to the plans for the wastewater to be ‘dumped’ in the Pacific. That creates the wrong impression.
“It is to be discharged into Japan’s own backyard, 7306 kms from Fiji.
“Those who oppose the position I’ve taken are obviously entitled to their viewpoints. However, I urge them to consider the science involved,’’ he wrote on Facebook.
Australia’s Centre for Radiation Research, Education and Innovation director Tony Hooker said the release of tritium from nuclear facilities into waterways was undertaken worldwide with no evidence of environmental or human health implications.
“I welcome the news about the impending release and support Japan’s decision to commence disposal and believe they have a robust radiation management plan that has been approved by the IAEA.
“The Japanese NRC as well as other radiation protection agencies world-wide.
“I think with the likely comprehensive independent monitoring of the environment to occur around the release site of Fukushima.
“This will hopefully alleviate some of the fear that has been generated around this issue,’’ he said.
A Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Western Australia’s Curtin University, Nigel Marks, said the release sounded bad but it actually isn’t.
He said: “Similar releases have occurred around the world for six decades, and nothing bad has ever happened.’’
Marks said the radioactivity in the Fukushima water was almost entirely tritium, a type of hydrogen.
“For scale, the Pacific Ocean contains 8,400 grams of pure tritium, while Japan will release 0.06 grams of tritium every year.
“The minuscule amount of extra radiation will not make the tiniest jot of difference.
“A lifetime’s worth of seafood caught a few kilometers from the ocean outlet has the tritium radiation equivalent of one bite of a banana,’’ he said.
However, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, Robert Richmond, said that the release was not surprising, but certainly disappointing.
“Both Japan and the IAEA can turn a challenging situation into an opportunity to explore and develop better approaches to nuclear disasters than ocean dumping.
“Considering the documented deteriorating conditions of ocean health and that of those communities who depend on it, we should expect far better from those in positions of authority and responsibility,’’ he said.
The Pacific Islands Forum, a group of 18 countries in the region have not yet formally decided if they were for or against the imminent discharge.
Palau, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have publicly backed Japan, while Vanuatu and Tuvalu have expressed opposition.
