The Impacts and Countermeasures of Japan's Proposal to Release Nuclear-Contaminated Water into the Sea on Neighboring Countries

Abstract

Since 2020, the Japanese government has made great efforts to promote the discharge of nuclear-polluted water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Although it is strongly opposed by the Japanese and neighboring countries, the Japanese government still puts economic benefits first and does not fully consider the biological and chemical hazards that may be caused by the discharge of nuclear-polluted water into the sea, the impact on people's health, or whether it will pose a threat to Japan's offshore and neighboring countries' marine safety and food safety. As always, it is an obvious violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to choose the simplest, lowest-cost, and most irresponsible way to discharge nuclear-polluted water into the sea, which needs to be highly valued by neighboring countries and even all countries around the Pacific Ocean, and actively take measures to avoid the harm caused by Japan's nuclear-polluted water discharged into the sea to neighboring countries. To solve the current problems, it is necessary for the United Nations to actively play the role of central mediator and for neighboring countries to jointly create international public opinion on the harm caused by the discharge of nuclear-polluted water into the sea. At the same time, it is also necessary to call on non-governmental environmental protection organizations to protest and continuously increase internal pressure in Japan. In addition, the active resistance to importation of the fish resources from Japan and the reduction in the number of tourists to Japan are also important measures to prevent the Japanese government from dumping nuclear-polluted water. Therefore, actively calling on the Japanese government to cancel or terminate the dumping of nuclear-polluted water into the sea is not only the greatest protection of the lives and property of people in Japan and neighboring countries, but a responsible expression of ensuring that the world's maritime security is not threatened.