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An aerial photo of Tokyo Electric Power Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture on August 24, 2023. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant began discharging treated water stored at the nuclear power plant into the ocean on the same day.
photo: Takuya Matsumoto/AFP
- Japan began discharging water collected from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in August last year
- The move received mixed reactions from Pacific leaders but was strongly opposed by non-nuclear campaigners.
- Marshall Islands President Hilda said that the “International Atomic Energy Agency, as an authority on nuclear safety” has stated that the wastewater discharge is safe, so the Marshall Islands “does not want” to challenge its decision.
Marshall Islands Decision Agree with other Pacific leaders Supports Japan’s release of treated nuclear wastewater, despite concerns expressed by the Japanese president.
Japan began discharging water collected from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in August last year, after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the plant.
The Pacific’s response was mix.
The Marshall Islands has long expressed concern about the leak and reiterated this at the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) in Japan, noting that the country “bears a unique burden of radioactive contamination” due to US nuclear testing.
Yet President Heine still decided last month to join other Pacific nations in recognizing that the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency, the authority on nuclear safety) had said the wastewater was safe to discharge.
Heine said the Marshall Islands “does not believe we can change the decisions that have been made by the Pacific Islands Forum, but at the same time we can make our voice heard”.
“We are also trying to get the forum to ensure that there is monitoring of what is happening – if not reinstating the independent panel, then at least a monitoring programme to help us understand the specifics of the discharge of waste water into the Pacific Ocean.”
Meanwhile, Pacific Islands Forum chairman and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown insisted the discharge was not contrary to the spirit of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. Treaty of Rarotonga – Japan meets all required international standards.
“It is not a violation of regulations because the water has been treated and purified and the isotopes have been removed prior to discharge,” Brown told a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers on Friday.
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine (left) and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
photo: RNZ Pacific/Caleb Fotheringham
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he did not believe the release should be reviewed by a separate Pacific organization.
“We are not going to go to the Pacific to make our voices heard,” Peters said during a four-stop Pacific tour to the Marshall Islands.
“We listen to other people, communicate with them, understand their concerns and try to reach a consensus; that’s what we’re working on now on this issue.”
He said New Zealand International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Have they asked questions about other nuclear wastewater disposals around the world? Look carefully, look carefully, there are others.”
Kenneth Kedi was the parliamentary representative for Rongelap Atoll, one of the atolls worst affected by the cyclone. Nuclear testing.
Extremely high radiation levels on the island, mainly from a nuclear test conducted on March 1, 1954, a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, forced the islanders to abandon their island.
Keddie said his people had already been exposed to too much radiation and they should not risk more.
“If it’s clean, why not just keep it in Japan, dig a silo and put it there?” he said.
“Why dump it into the Pacific Ocean?”
‘Billions outstanding’
Radiation has led to ongoing health problems in the Marshall Islands, such as high rates of cancer.
The United States and the Marshall Islands have a special relationship through a Compact of Free Association.
The plan would allow U.S. troops to enter the freely associated nations of the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, while those nations would receive economic aid and the right for their citizens to work in the United States.
The Marshall Islands’ previous 20-year funding agreement expired on September 30 last year, but The Marshall Islands held off on signing the agreement until October because it wanted to see the United States reach an agreement on outstanding nuclear legacy issues..
Keddie said the United States did make some reparations, but billions of dollars remain unpaid. He said the United States has also never apologized for what it did.
“We consider them special friends – sometimes even call them family, brothers and sisters.
“We can’t apologise, we can simply say we made a mistake.”
He said if the United States wanted to make amends, it should clean up the radiation on the atolls so the islands could be inhabited again and pay outstanding nuclear claims.
Asked whether the United States needed to resolve outstanding nuclear issues, Peters said the delegation was “not here to lecture the Marshall Islands or the United States.”
Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono, who also took part in the visit, said he was here to support the aspirations of locals.
“That’s what we’re here to do — listen to them and consider their issues.”
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