Japan decides to discharge Fukushima’s wastewater into the Pacific Ocean

In April, the Japanese Government disclosed to the world its plans to gradually release tons of wastewater from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean.^[1] The reactor buildings at the Fukushima power plant were damaged by hydrogen explosions after the terrible Tsunami that hit the region in 2011.^[2] To keep the three damaged reactor cores from melting, cooling water is pumped through them continuously and an intense filtration system manages to remove all of the radioactive material from the pumped water, except for tritium, which, in small doses, is not harmful to human health.^[3] Currently, more than a million tonnes of water have already been used to cool the reactors and are stored in more than 1,000 tanks at the plant site. Nonetheless, the plant’s operator is running out of space, with these tanks expected to fill up by 2022.^[4] The complete release of this wastewater is expected to take decades.^[5]

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said during a cabinet meeting that the disposing of the wastewater from the plant was “a problem that cannot be avoided” and that the Japanese government will “take every measure to absolutely guarantee the safety of the treated water and address misinformation.” Notwithstanding, since the announcement of Japan’s initiative to release the wastewater into the sea, several criticisms have already been made by States and non-State groups.

Greenpeace, for example, has been a long objector to the idea of releasing the wastewater into the ocean and, in a report from 2020, the organization pointed out also the dangers of having carbon-14 in the water. According to the paper “With a half-life of 5,730 years, carbon-14 is a major contributor to global human collective dose; once introduced into the environment carbon-14 will be delivered to local, regional and global populations for many generations”^[6]. Remarkably, after the Japanese government’s pronouncement, Greenpeace stated that the decision “ignores human rights and international maritime law”.^[7]

In this sense, Currie and Burnie highlight that “Before any discharge into the Pacific Ocean, Japan is required to conduct an Environment Impact Assessment under Article 206 of [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] UNCLOS”^[8]. Moreover, Japan has other duties under International Law such as the obligation to not cause significant transboundary environmental harm and to search for other viable options, that can serve as an alternative to the decision to dump the wastewater into the sea.^[9]

In addition, Japan’s statement caused a bit of discomfort in other States from the region, as China and South Korea. South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-In, ordered his officials to start looking into ways to refer Japan’s move to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.^[10] Moreover, the Korean progressive minor opposition ‘Justice Party’, together with other groups, referred to Japan’s plans as “nuclear terrorism”.^[11]

Regarding the Chinese government, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, challenged the Japanese administration to prove that the water is indeed safe by drinking it.^[12] Furthermore, he strongly stated that “the ocean is not Japan’s trash can”. Li Shouping, director of the School of Law at the Beijing Institute of Technology, also said that based on the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea, the illegality of Japan’s decision is indisputable.^[13]

In consequence, it seems that if Japan decides indeed to follow its plan to dump the wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, an international litigation might be initiated by South Korea or China. Nonetheless, irrespective of Japan’s next move, considering that the current solution to store the wastewater might only be a temporary solution, a decision will have to be made concerning the future of this deadlock. Greenpeace, for instance, suggests that Japan should delay the start of the dischargers because taking into account Tritium’s short half-life (12.3 years) this would naturally diminish the impact on the environment.^[14] Notwithstanding, regarding the lawfulness of Japan’s actions, it appears that in the next months we might have the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea called upon to issue their opinion on the matter. Certainly, the main chapters of this story are still to be unfolded.

By Augusto Guimarães Carrijo, a student at the Federal University of Uberlândia, under the supervision of Dr. Felipe Kern Moreira, IBDMAR’s Director.

^[1] DOOLEY, Ben; JETT, Jennifer. Fukushima Wastewater Will Be Released into the Ocean, Japan Says. The New York Times. New York, 12 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/world/asia/japan-fukushima-wastewater-ocean.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,Fukushima%20Wastewater%20Will%20Be%20Released%20Into%20the%20Ocean%2C%20Japan%20Says,damaged%20reactor%20cores%20from%20melting.

^[2] BBC. Fukushima: Japan approves releasing wastewater into ocean. In: BBC. BBC news. London, 12 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56728068 .

^[3] DOOLEY, Ben; JETT, Jennifer. Fukushima Wastewater Will Be Released into the Ocean, Japan Says. The New York Times. New York, 12 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/world/asia/japan-fukushima-wastewater-ocean.html .

^[4] BBC. Fukushima: Japan approves releasing wastewater into ocean. In: BBC. BBC news. London, 12 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56728068.

^[5] DOOLEY, Ben; JETT, Jennifer. Fukushima Wastewater Will Be Released into the Ocean, Japan Says. The New York Times. New York, 12 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/world/asia/japan-fukushima-wastewater-ocean.html.

^[6] GREENPEACE. The reality of the Fukushima radioactive water crisis. Stemming the tide 2020, Oct. 2020. Available at: https://storage.googleapis.com/planet4-japan-stateless/2020/10/5768c541-the-reality-of-the-fukushima-radioactive-water-crisis_en_summary.pdf.

^[7] GREENPEACE. The Japanese government’s decision to discharge Fukushima contaminated water ignores human rights and international maritime law. In: GREENPEACE. Greenpeace International. 13 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/47207/the-japanese-governments-decision-to-discharge-fukushima-contaminated-water-ignores-human-rights-and-international-maritime-law/.

^[8] CURRIE, Duncan; BURNIE, Shaun. Japan’s plan for radioactive water defies international law. The Korea Times. South Korea, 09 Mar. 2020. Available at: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/07/371_285553.html.

^[9] Ibidem. See also: INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION. Draft Articles on Prevention of Transboundary Harm from Hazardous Activities, with commentaries. 2001. Available at: https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/commentaries/9_7_2001.pdf.

^[10] REUTERS. S. Korea aims to fight Japan’s Fukushima decision at world tribunal. In: REUTERS. Reuters. London, 14 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skoreas-moon-seeks-international-litigation-over-japans-fukushima-water-decision-2021-04-14/.

^[11] Ibidem.

^[12] TAYLOR, Adam. China to Japanese official: If treated radioactive water from Fukushima is safe, ‘please drink it’. The Washington Post. Washington, 14 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/04/14/china-japan-fukushima-water-drink/.

^[13] JINCUI, Yu. China should actively consider legal battle against Japan’s wastewater plan: experts. Global Times. Beijing, 17 Apr. 2021. Available at: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202104/1221303.shtml.

^[14] GREENPEACE. The reality of the Fukushima radioactive water crisis. Stemming the tide 2020, Oct. 2020. Available at: https://storage.googleapis.com/planet4-japan-stateless/2020/10/5768c541-the-reality-of-the-fukushima-radioactive-water-crisis_en_summary.pdf.