Nuclear Society: "Impact of Japanese Contaminated Water on Korean Ocean is Minimal"

"Small Amounts of Unfiltered Tritium and Carbon-14 Detected"

The Korean Nuclear Society stated, "According to empirical data and various scientific analyses, the discharge of treated contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan cannot affect the health of our people or the marine environment."

On the 20th, the society claimed this in a 'Position Statement on the Impact of Fukushima Contaminated Water Discharge on Korea,' saying, "Our people can safely maintain their dietary life."

The society said, "During the progression of the 2011 Fukushima accident, a large amount of highly concentrated radioactive contaminated water was released into the Pacific Ocean (liquid discharge, atmospheric release followed by deposition, etc.), but due to the direction of ocean currents and the dilution effect of the Pacific, no significant increase in radioactivity has been observed in Korean waters over the past 12 years."

Song Sang-geun, Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, is speaking at the daily briefing on the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 20th. Photo by Yonhap News

It added, "The total amount of radioactive materials contained in the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is very small compared to the amount of radioactive materials released into the Pacific Ocean for more than two years before the multi-nuclide removal facility (ALPS) was operated immediately after the accident," and argued, "Even if the contaminated water is discharged all at once, it is unlikely to have a direct impact on Korean waters."

Regarding the criticism that tritium and carbon-14 are not filtered out during the ALPS treatment process, the society stated, "The concentration of carbon-14 is much lower than the discharge standard and is not problematic, and the total amount of tritium contained in the contaminated water is about 2.2 grams," adding, "The annual discharge amount according to Japan's plan is about 0.062 grams, which is very small compared to the 200 grams of tritium naturally produced annually or the 3 grams that fall as rain in the East Sea."

Furthermore, it explained, "The average concentration of tritium in the contaminated water (including ALPS treated water) is evaluated at 620,000 becquerels per liter (620,000 Bq/ℓ), exceeding the marine discharge standards (Japan 60,000 Bq/ℓ, Korea 40,000 Bq/ℓ), but if diluted to 1,500 Bq/ℓ before discharge, the impact of the discharge is expected to be negligible beyond several tens of kilometers from the discharge point."

The society also emphasized that the safety of our seafood can be secured through the discharge process and radiation monitoring in our waters. It pointed out, "The discharge process of ALPS treated water is continuously evaluated and verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team, which includes experts from not only the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority but also Korea and China," and criticized, "Disparaging the IAEA's verification activities is merely a conspiracy theory and is undesirable from an international relations perspective."

Additionally, the society stated, "We are expressing our position because it is undesirable for the domestic fisheries industry to be damaged by unscientific conspiracy theories or agitation, or for unscientific positions not recognized by the international community to become widespread in our society," and announced, "We propose an open debate to those who spread claims significantly different from our society's scientific judgment through various media."

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