At UN, Micronesia Denounces Japan’s Plan to Release Fukushima Water Into Pacific

A worker, wearing protective suits and masks, takes notes in front of storage tanks for radioactive water at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on Feb. 10, 2016. (Toru Hanai/Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS—The president of the Pacific island state of Micronesia has denounced Japan’s decision to discharge what he called nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station into the Pacific Ocean.

In an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, Micronesian President David Panuelo said his country has the “gravest concern” about Japan’s decision to release the so-called Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) water into the ocean.

“We cannot close our eyes to the unimaginable threats of nuclear contamination, marine pollution, and eventual destruction of the Blue Pacific Continent,” Panuelo said. “The impacts of this decision are both transboundary and intergenerational in nature. As Micronesia’s head of state, I cannot allow for the destruction of our ocean resources that support the livelihood of our people.”

Japan stated in July that its nuclear regulators had approved a plan to release water that was used to cool reactors in the aftermath of the March 2011 Fukushima disaster into the Pacific Ocean.

The more than 1.3 million metric tons of water have been stored in huge tanks at the plant.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry stated in July that regulators deemed it safe to release the water, which will still contain traces of the radioactive isotope tritium after treatment.

Asked about Panuelo’s statement, Yukiko Okano, the ministry’s deputy press secretary, said in reference to Fukushima that Japan would try its best “to gain understanding from the international community about the safety of our activities there.”

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., plans to filter the contaminated water to remove harmful isotopes apart from tritium, which is hard to remove. Then, it will be diluted and released to free up plant space to allow the decommissioning of Fukushima to continue.

The plan has encountered stiff resistance from regional fishing unions, which fear its effects on their livelihoods. Japan’s neighbors, including China, South Korea, and Taiwan, have also expressed concern.

Panuelo’s remarks coincided with a meeting hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the Partners in the Blue Pacific countries, which include Japan, with the aim of better coordinating assistance to the region in the face of competition from China.