Japan’s plan to dump radioactive water is not dangerous, the professor says

Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the Pacific Ocean will have a “zero environmental impact,” according to a professor who spoke to CNBC.

Japan said on Tuesday that the operator of the Fukushima plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co or TEPCO, will treat and dilute the water before pumping it in about two years. There are more than a million metric tons of radioactive water coming from the destroyed plant and it will take decades to release them completely.

The movement has provoked strong opposition from Japan’s neighbors and environmental activists.

But Brent Heuser of the University of Illinois said the filtration process will remove most of the radioactive elements from the water, leaving only tritium (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) that is not harmful in small amounts.

“Tritium is not dangerous in small quantities … it will be very dilute, it just doesn’t worry, the environmental impact is zero,” Heuser, a professor of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Thursday.

However, Japan’s neighbors, including China and South Korea, have opposed the plan. The environmental group Greenpeace, as well as local residents and fishermen also raised their concerns.

South Korea summoned the Japanese ambassador to Seoul and is apparently exploring ways to combat Japan’s decision in an international tribunal.

In China, the Foreign Ministry criticized Japan in a statement for having “unilaterally” decided to release the water, while ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian challenged Japanese officials to drink water from the plant. Fukushima.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Taiwan saying it would continue to express its concerns and closely monitor related developments.

The reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant were damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. TEPCO has been accumulating contaminated water in tanks, but storage capacity is likely to run out by the end of next year.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said releasing water to the ocean was the “most realistic” option.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that “the method of water removal chosen by Japan is technically feasible and is in line with international practice.” The United States said Japan has been transparent and its approach appears to be in line with “globally accepted nuclear safety standards.”

For Heuser, there are more important issues about ocean pollution than worrying about Japan releasing treated water.

“I would tell people who are worried that this will happen in the ocean: we dump 8 tons of plastics into the ocean, pregnant women are not supposed to eat tuna due to mercury poisoning, the microplastic is in the marine food chain. we should be concerned, “he said.