Gangjin County Council Demands Immediate Withdrawal of Fukushima Radioactive Wastewater Discharge Plan

Storage Scale of Contaminated Water, Approximately 1.33 Million ㎥ Stored as of April 20, 2023

The Gangjin County Council of Jeollanam-do (Chairperson Kim Bomi) announced on the 15th that it had finally passed the “Resolution Urging the Withdrawal of Japan’s Decision to Discharge Radioactively Contaminated Water from Fukushima,” which was introduced by Councilor Kim Changju, at the 3rd plenary session of the 290th Gangjin County Council extraordinary meeting.

Councilor Kim Changju explained, “The resolution was proposed to condemn the Japanese government’s unilateral and irresponsible approval of the marine discharge of Fukushima radioactive contaminated water and to urge the South Korean government to take effective measures.”

Gangjin County Council urged the Japanese government to immediately withdraw the plan to discharge radioactive contaminated water from Fukushima into the ocean.
[Photo by Gangjin County Council]

The Japanese government plans to discharge high-level radioactive contaminated water generated from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant explosion accident in 2011 through an undersea tunnel over about 30 years, starting as early as this summer.

According to Tokyo Electric Power Company’s public data, as of the 20th of last month, approximately 1.33 million cubic meters of contaminated water are stored, which is about 97% of the total storage capacity.

A joint study in 2023 by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute predicted that the contaminated water will begin to flow into the sea south of Jeju Island 4 to 5 years after discharge and will spread throughout the North Pacific Ocean 10 years after the discharge.

Councilor Kim Changju said, “The Japanese government claims that the contaminated water is treated cleanly and safely, but there is a lack of transparency regarding the components of the contaminated water and insufficient scientific verification of the treatment process, causing great concern in the international community.”

He added, “Nevertheless, the Japanese government unilaterally decided to discharge the water without even disclosing objective information.”

He lamented, “The marine discharge of Fukushima radioactive contaminated water is a matter directly related to the lives and health of the people and future generations, as well as the safety of the marine ecosystem and the survival of the fisheries industry.”

He also pointed out, “Our government has consistently acted as a bystander, showing no concern, regret, or opposition to Japan’s decision to discharge Fukushima radioactive contaminated water.”

Meanwhile, the resolution adopted on the day is scheduled to be sent to related institutions including the President, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.