Professor Jeong Yong-hoon: "No Impact Even After Living 100 Years Following Fukushima Contaminated Water Discharge"

Professor Jeong Yong-hoon of KAIST Department of Nuclear Quantum Engineering
Lecture at the Ruling Party Meeting: "Impact of Contaminated Water at a Negligible Level"

Professor Jeong Yong-hoon of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST claimed regarding the issue of contaminated water discharge from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, "Even if you live for 100 years after the contaminated water is discharged, there will be no impact at all."

On the 20th, Professor Jeong gave a lecture on the safety of the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water discharge at the People Power Party's members' meeting held at the National Assembly.

Professor Jeong Yong-hoon of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST is giving a lecture on the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water at the People Power Party's caucus held at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding the long-term effects of the contaminated water, Professor Jeong said, "For a speck of dust to become a mountain, you have to gather as much dust as a mountain. Dust remains dust no matter how much you gather," emphasizing that the discharge of contaminated water does not have a significant impact.

He explained, "If you go just a few kilometers from Fukushima, it gets diluted, and tritium comes out at 1 becquerel (Bq) per liter. If you measure the water from the Han River right now, it shows 1 Bq per liter. So, if you test the urine of Seoul citizens, that level of tritium appears."

He continued, "China is also discharging, releasing about 50 times the tritium concentration compared to Fukushima's contaminated water. South Korea is doing it too," emphasizing, "There is actually no impact from this, and when you consider the total amount, it is negligible."

Regarding the recent salt shortage caused by growing concerns over contaminated water discharge, Professor Jeong explained, "Tritium does not remain in salt," adding, "Tritium is water, and it evaporates together when water evaporates."

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