Justice Party Voices Call to "Stop Contaminated Water Dumping" with Japanese Lawmaker

Otsubaki Yuko Lawmaker: "Tokyo Electric Power's Claim That There Is No Place for Tanks Is a Blatant Lie"

Justice Party lawmakers, together with members of the Japanese Social Democratic Party, urged both governments to "stop the ocean discharge of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water."

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 7th, the Justice Party parliamentary group and Yuko Otsubaki, a member of the House of Councillors from the Japanese Social Democratic Party, stated, "The final report from the IAEA, which the Japanese government cites as the basis for ocean discharge, has proven nothing. By limiting the cost-benefit analysis of the nuclear contaminated water ocean discharge to within Japan, the justification principle set by the IAEA itself has collapsed, and it has not been able to prove the total amount of radioactive nuclides."

They pointed out that the Japanese government did not consider alternatives to ocean discharge and did not listen to the opinions of fishermen. They said, "The Japanese government has already decided on the lowest-cost treatment method for ocean discharge and has not even considered other safe alternatives such as onshore storage," adding, "Discharging nuclear contaminated water into the ocean, a shared resource of humanity, to save costs is nothing less than an act of marine crime."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

They continued, "Despite promises that the discharge would not proceed without the understanding of stakeholders and despite many opposing voices from fishermen and citizens, the Japanese government is forcing ahead with ocean discharge, which is absolutely unacceptable," emphasizing, "The Japanese government must keep its promise not to proceed without stakeholders' understanding and accept the opposition from many fishermen and citizens to stop the forced ocean discharge."

They also stated, "Through today's press conference, we confirm that the political circles of both Korea and Japan absolutely do not agree with ocean discharge, and we will further expand the solidarity of politicians and citizens in both countries to prevent the ocean discharge of nuclear contaminated water." After the press conference, Ryoichi Hattori, secretary of the Social Democratic Party, told reporters, "The discharge will continue for 30 years," and added, "I hope we can build an international network more quickly."

Secretary Hattori criticized the IAEA report, saying, "It was written only after listening to the positions of Tokyo Electric Power Company and the government," and claimed, "Although Tokyo Electric Power says the contaminated water has been purified, various nuclear materials are still mixed in." He also said, "They say there is no more space to build (contaminated water storage) tanks, but that is a blatant lie. Tokyo Electric Power has vast land," and criticized, "However, the discharge of contaminated water is proceeding because it is an easy method that does not require spending money."

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