opinion

A large amount of nuclear wastewater containing radioactive substances leaked from the contaminated water purifier of Fukushima nuclear power plant No. 1 on February 7, sparking off great international concern.

According to a news report, nuclear wastewater containing about 5 500kg of the substances 22 billion Becquerel in radioactivity spilled from an open valve in the course of cleaning the cesium absorption tower holding radioactive substances as part of the work of dismantling the nuclear power plant. The Tokyo Electric Power Company operating the power plant announced that the soil around the absorption tower was contaminated.

This clearly shows how lax the internal management regulations and order of the Fukushima nuclear power plant are. The recent leak of nuclear wastewater is not the first accident at the power plant.

The leak of high-concentration contaminated water occurred one after another at the power plant. After the Fukushima disaster struck over 10 years ago, there was the leakage of 45 tons of wastewater containing the radioactive substances which are a million times more than the tolerable limits in December 2011, 500 tons, over 2.66 million times, in August and December in 2013 and about 100 tons in February 2014.

Therefore, the power plant should have paid special attention to possible leakage and taken more thorough preventive measures.

But Japan may make little of such degree of accident, given that it does not hesitate to dump radioactive-contaminated water into the sea to only serve its selfish interests.

The recent accident has aroused apprehension over the power plant’s capability for operating its contaminated water purifier and ocean discharger safely on a long-term basis.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the accident revealed once again that such chronic problems as confusion and disorder persisting in the internal management of the Tokyo Electric Power Company can hardly be corrected, and urged the Japanese side to release information concerning the accident in a responsible, comprehensive and transparent way in time and give a responsible explanation.

As was already known, Japan keeps dumping radioactive wastewater into the sea despite the strong denunciation from at home and abroad.

Although the Japanese authorities claim that the water was treated and is therefore harmless even if it is discharged into the sea and has been recognized by the IAEA, it has been confirmed that the wastewater contains such radioactive substances as strontium above the allowable limits and the fish caught in the waters around Fukushima Prefecture contained radioactive substances far more than the tolerable limits. At the end of last year, many dead sardines were pushed ashore for some unknown reason.

It is a stark reality that the radioactive-contaminated water dumped by Japan is harmful to the marine ecology.

Dumping the nuclear wastewater into the sea is an irresponsible, reckless and selfish crime of inflicting a nuclear disaster on all mankind.

The recent accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is sounding a warning once again against Japan's attitude towards nuclear wastewater.

Japan should abandon its wrong concept of pursuing its selfish end only and immediately discontinue dumping radioactive-contaminated water into the sea which inflicts disaster on mankind and destroys ecological environment, before being isolated and denounced by the world.