No more beach vacations for our upcoming generations. No one would probably process that information in the moment, but when the devastation hits it’ll be way too late. Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company released treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, and began to release it into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday afternoon August 24th.
The Company’s executives, also known as TEPCO, told and influenced the reporters that they would shut the release of treated water into the Pacific if any issues were to come to the surface. Even though this controversial decision was opposed by the people protesting in Japan, South Korea, and all over the world. This led to Chinese officials to make a statement on Thursday, stating that Japan’s actions were “‘selfish and irresponsible’ as it is that the ocean ‘belongs to all of humanity,’ China said,” as stated in the ABC NEWS. The ignorance Japan demonstrated towards the protesters was disheartening and despite that the crowd “chanted various demands calling to, ‘protect our rights,’” as stated in the ABC NEWS article.
It was known to both the Company and the Japanese Government that their people were against this dump, seen in the eyes of the protesters and especially those in their age, standing and demonstrating their opinion through the poster boards and voices like Terumi Kotaoka. Terumi Kotaoka, an ordinary, 60 year old woman, who voiced her concern, “Who says tritium is not so bad, government scientists? Can you believe that? Well, it is not safe at all. That us why we are protesting and trying to stop the dumping of radioactive water into the ocean,” as stated in ABC NEWS
But how did it start? Where is all this contaminated water coming from? The March of 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant’s cooling system, causing three reactors to melt. Highly contaminated cooling water applied to the damaged reactors has leaked continuously to building basements and mixed with groundwater, which came into contact with a toxic mixture of radioactive substances known as radionuclides. Adding to this is 100 tons of groundwater and rainwater. And all of that is getting released into the ocean! And even though TEPCO is saying “that its purification system would reduce 62 radionuclides to safe or non-detectable levels and that only traces of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, and two other isotopes would remain”, as stated in New York Times. So then how is THAT safe?!
The stats of this whole dump of TEPCO’s radioactive water going wrong are extremely high. The Japanese government is ready to pay for the damage but the damage can not be undone. Fish will soon be contaminated and water well it also soon will be highly toxic, so those movies where water became toxic to humanity and our existence, is actually coming true.
