Do you remember the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown from 2011?
There was a tsunami in that year which caused problems with the cooling of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
This caused an overheating of the plant and a nuclear accident which was estimated to have long lasting problems.
Indeed, the problems are now starting to materialise.
Beginning with what to do with the massive amount of water that was used to cool down the nuclear plant and prevent any further damage.
Since the water storage tanks of the used radioactive water became full, Fukushima started looking into what to do with the waste water.
One of the options was to treat the water and release it into the sea.
Of course, this course of action sparked immense concerns from many parties within Japan. Japan’s neighbouring countries were also concerned.
China and South Korea, in particular, expressed unhappiness over the plan to release the treated radioactive water into the sea.
Singapore, however, seems less concerned about this as there are no import bans on seafood from the affected area for now.
Here is what you need to know about the release of the Fukushima treated water into the sea.
Japan Is Releasing Wastewater From Fukushima Because of the Nuclear Power Plant
Here’s the breaking news in case you are living under a rock.
As of 24 August 2023, Japan has started to release the treated waste water used to cool the Fukushima nuclear power plant after the accident more than a decade ago.
The project began at 1.03 pm Japan time (which is 12.03 pm Singapore time).
The water is being released into the Pacific Ocean (which China and South Korea are near).
This plan to release the water will take over a decade to complete. 30 years to be exact.
For those unaware, Japan is not doing something illegal per se. The plan to release the waste water was approved over two years ago by the Japanese government.
The United Nations nuclear governing authorities also agreed with Japan’s plan to release the treated water, so there is some backing for Japan’s plan.
The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co aka Tepco is responsible for this project to release the waste water into the sea.
The plan for the release of the water was to treat the radioactive water and remove the bulk of the radioactive isotopes.
The water would then be diluted and slowly released into the sea until all 1.3 million tonnes of water are gone.
Some Japanese Citizens Are Unhappy With the Release of the Water
Naturally, there are people unhappy with the decision to release the water used to cool nuclear plants even though the water will be treated beforehand.
One of the unhappy groups is the Japanese fishing groups. Their main fear is that the seafood in the area will be labelled as unsafe or radioactive given the release of the water.
The corresponding problem would be a drop in the demand and sales of their fishing produce in the area. This is expected to hurt the livelihood of the local fishermen.
China Is Outraged About the Waste Water Release
China has also been vocal about rejecting the idea that Japan release the treated wastewater into the sea.
The Straits Times reported that China’s foreign ministry branded Japan’s plan to release the water as “extremely selfish and irresponsible”.
China also announced a ban on the seafood imports from Japan, presumably due to the concerns of the radioactive material released into the sea.
China’s Customs authority in particular said that the import of “aquatic products originating from Japan” will be banned from 24 August 2023.
That must hit Japan fishermen pretty hard, given the vast market and demand of seafood from China.
Given the risk that more bans may come in, and doubt over the quality of the produce from the sea moving forward, people in China have started to buy salt in bulk.
The stocking up of salt occurred in Fujian (which is located near the sea) and also Beijing and Shanghai. This caused some salt brands to sell out in these areas.
Does it remind you of the panic buying of toilet paper in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic? Or perhaps this might be more similar to the mass buying of flour and other baking ingredients.
Singapore Will Still Continue to Import Seafood From Japan for Now
This drama around the release of the wastewater makes us wonder what Singapore thinks about the situation.
After all, our local authorities are known to have strict standards on the food items which can be imported into Singapore and are deemed safe for consumption.
For now, the local authorities are sitting tight and have not imposed any bans from Japan’s seafood.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said that the food from Japan is still safe and its investigations into the radioactive levels of food from that region are still satisfactory.
This makes sense, given that the water project just started and there is unlikely to be an immediate spike in radioactive particles in the food.
But this optimism may not be shared by all the people in Singapore.
The Straits Times reported that some consumers will start boycotting seafood from Japan.
One of these people is Ms Olivia Choong. She spoke to The Straits Times saying that she finds the situation “alarming” and will be opting for “other options for seafood”.
She also said that she does not “need to include” sashimi in her diet for now.
Over in TikTok, there’s a drama involving property agents that’s caused by us. Here’s what happened:
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