Editorial | Tokyo plan to release radioactive waste water is far too risky

Hong Kong was Japan’s second-biggest market for farm and fish exports last year, accounting for about 2 per cent of the city’s total food supply and 6.75 per cent of all seafood consumed locally. It therefore has an abiding interest in the efficacy of that country’s food safety regime at any time, let alone when radioactive contamination could be an issue. Environment secretary Tse Chin-wan has, rightly, warned that imports of Japanese food will be further restricted if the country presses ahead with a controversial plan to discharge radioactive waste water into the sea without international consensus that it will not contaminate the marine food chain.

Japanese authorities used the contaminated water to cool the melted core of the Fukushima nuclear power plant after an earthquake and tsunami 12 years ago. Tokyo has given assurances it is now safe to drink once treated. That does not square with its plan to get rid of it by discharging it into the sea, or with protests across Japan which suggest its own people are far from convinced that it does not pose a potential hazard.

Their concerns are echoed in mainland Chinese state media; experts are concerned because the water has been tainted with radioactive substances that are not easily filtered out, and modelling indicates the water would eventually find its way around the ocean.

Japanese officials have urged the Hong Kong government to consider scientific evidence before deciding whether to tighten curbs on importing seafood. But Tse says the international community should first reach a consensus on the possible dangers involved. “It is irresponsible for the Japanese government to ignore the strong concerns of the international community and insist on discharging the radioactive waste water into the sea,” he said. The Japanese consulate in Hong Kong has insisted it is not radioactive waste but treated water that has been sufficiently purified.

The controversy focuses attention on the final mission recently of an International Atomic Energy Agency task force conducting a safety review of the discharge plan before publication of the IAEA’s comprehensive report. The task force, comprises experts from 11 countries, including China and South Korea. The IAEA says its mission includes whether the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power have made full disclosures about the nuclear accident, contamination and the effect on the marine environment.

Tse said: “Though Hong Kong does not rely on Japanese food, it is a favourite of many Hongkongers and there are a lot of Japanese restaurants in the city. If the Japanese government is confident in the safety of the treated radioactive waste water, they should have used it domestically for purposes such as [crop] irrigation.” He has a point.