State duty to cooperate on the Fukushima nuclear contaminated water release

Abstract

While the impacts of the proposed Fukushima nuclear contaminated water release on human health and marine environment remain incalculable and unforeseeable, the UNCLOS, nuclear safety conventions and customary international law have provided for a comprehensive legal framework that requires the State of origin to take all necessary measures to prevent the potentially harmful consequences and cooperate with the States likely to be affected. This article sheds light on the central role of cooperation in dealing with the release, and suggests that cooperation should be the preferred policy for all States concerned at this stage, directly or through competent international organizations, to utterly avoid the release together or prevent its potential transboundary harm and rebuild trust with the public. Furthermore, it elucidates that the inter-State cooperation shall not be diluted or even overridden by Japan’s current cooperation with the IAEA, as the two types of cooperation are related but functionally different with respect to State responsibilities for the release.