Recently, concerns have been expressed in Pacific media regarding the expected discharge of water from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) in Japan, the most recent one being an opinion published in 20 July edition of Samoa Observer “The disposal of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean” by Mr. Nicholas Niko and an article “Japan’s wastewater dumping not urgent, says experts” written by Mr. Shalveen Chand on 26 July.

With a view to providing the readers of this newspaper with information and explanation to garner a better understanding of the scientific basis that the discharge of water from FDNPS will not be conducted in a manner that affects human health and the environment of Samoa or any other Pacific nations including Japan, I wrote a letter-to-the-editor of Samoa Observer, which was published in its 17 February 2023 edition under the title “Japan is not throwing trash in your backyard.

In my letter, I explained that the water contained in the damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima has been treated by a system called Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) and most radioactive substances contained in the contaminated water can be removed by ALPS treatment far below the regulatory and safety standards, except a substance called tritium, and the water will be further diluted before its discharge, and concentration level of tritium in the ALPS treated water will be far below international safety standards, for example, 1/7 (one-seventh) of WHO drinking water standard.

I am not repeating what I explained in my previous letter. But let me copy below six points that I labelled as “main takeaways” from the letter:

(1) We are not “dumping” contaminated water According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “to dump” means “deposit or dispose of (rubbish, waste, or unwanted material), typically in a careless or hurried way.” As I described above, Japan is taking a very careful and long process to ensure the safety of the water. The word “dump” does not apply to our case.

(2) We are not dumping “contaminated water,” or “trash” Also, as stated above, ALPS-treated water is not contaminated water or trash but complies with regulatory standards based on international standards.

(3) Tritium exists in the natural environment Tritium is found everywhere in the world as part of water molecules. You are surrounded by some amount of tritium atoms even now as you read this message. The important issue is not whether tritium is contained or not, but its density. Discharge of ALPS-treated water in Japan will not in any way affect the present natural density of tritium in Samoa, the Pacific, or even in Japan.

(4) Other countries are discharging tritium-containing water every day. Discharge of ALPS-treated water will not significantly change the total amount of tritium being discharged at present from various nuclear power plants in several countries.

(5) Japan is conducting this process in full compliance with national and international regulations while continuing to undergo review by the IAEA, the sole international organization responsible for monitoring the safe use of atomic energy.

(6) You can find a lot of materials or videos on this subject on the Internet.

Additionally, let me point out some very important points that some articles and opinions are missing.

The first one we find missing in many opinions or articles is the fact that tritium exists in the natural environment, produced mainly by natural interaction between cosmic rays and the earth's atmosphere. The discharge of water from Fukushima is not adding something new to the ocean. 

In the article “Releasing Fukushima’s radioactive water won’t cause harm,” by Associate Professor Nigel Marks, Professor Brendan Kennedy and Honorary Associate Professor Tony Irwin, initially published in “The Conversation” and reposted by several websites, the authors state that “looking at the Pacific Ocean, around 8.4 kg (3,000PBq) of tritium is already in the water. By comparison, the total amount of tritium in the Fukushima wastewater is vastly smaller, at around 3g (1PBq). Japanese authorities will not release all the water at once, but water containing just 0.06g (22TBq) of tritium is scheduled for release each year. Compared with the radioactivity already present in the Pacific, the planned annual release is a literal drop in the ocean.”

In addition, Dr. Tony Hooker, Director of the Centre for Radiation Research at the University of Adelaide in Australia, who Mr. Chand refers to in his article as one of the experts appointed by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat, said that the release of water is safe in the Radio Free Asia’s report “Japan’s Fukushima wastewater plan is safe, says an expert on Pacific islands panel.” RFA also reports that when asked whether Dr. Hooker would eat the fish, he answered "Yes I would."

According to the diffusion simulation, it is estimated that the concentration of tritium will be almost the same level as the natural seawater, and the process will be monitored once the discharge starts.

As I stated in my previous letter and reproduced above as a takeaway (4), tritium-containing water is being routinely released from many existing nuclear power plants in the world. After decades of releasing operations, no abnormalities in the marine ecosystem are reported around the area adjacent to these power plants. Mr. Niko stated his opinion that “this is no ordinary nuclear wastewater from the cooling system, this disposal plan is for the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima accident.” Actually, the water from FDNPS is purified by the ALPS system to meet all the international and national safety standards and is as safe as the water discharged routinely from nuclear power plants around the world.

On 4 July, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Director General Grossi handed the IAEA Comprehensive Report to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida. This report, available to the public via the Internet, presents the results of the IAEA’s nearly two-year review of the ALPS-treated water from a neutral and expert standpoint based on scientific evidence. In this report, the IAEA has concluded that the approach to the discharge of the ALPS treated water into the sea and associated activities are consistent with relevant international safety standards and the discharge will have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.

Director General Gross also noted, after his visit to FDNPS during his stay in Japan that “after a 2-year review, IAEA finds Japan’s plan aligns with safety standards. But our work isn’t over. We’ve been here, and we’ll be here until the last drop is safely discharged.” Thus the monitoring by the IAEA will continue until the end of the discharging process. Prime Minister Kishida publicly announced that Japan will publish monitoring information in a transparent and prompt manner while undergoing the review by the IAEA, and should a problem be detected during this monitoring process such as the unusual value of concentration of the radioactive materials, Japan will take appropriate measures as planned, including immediate suspension of the discharge. Let me emphasize that the IAEA is authorized to adopt and apply international safety standards in the field of nuclear energy under the IAEA Statute that implements safeguards for the purposes of promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy through consultation with all Member States including Samoa.

We take the concerns of the Pacific Island countries and region seriously and Japan has continuously provided explanations and duly conducted intensive dialogues with the Pacific Island countries and regions.

Dear readers, please imagine the sufferings of citizens, children, elderly people, farmers, fishermen, shop owners and workers in Fukushima who are the first to be affected by negative rumours or assertions not based on scientific facts. The decommissioning is essential for the reconstruction of Fukushima and the option of discharging ALPS-treated water was decided based on the technical knowledge and practice currently available with its safety as the top priority.

• Senta Keisuke is the Ambassador of Japan to the Independent State of Samoa.