Tepco not a trustworthy judge of radiation levels in Fukushima nuclear wastewater

China Daily 29 Oct 23

“…… Despite the fish-eating show put on by the Japanese prime minister and cabinet ministers at Fukushima, few people have bought into the idea that the Japanese seafood from nuclear-contaminated water is safe to eat.

Drawing conclusion on the full aftermath of Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated water requires enormous scientific expertise, which is beyond the capability of most people. However, some other doubtful points concerning this matter do not require so much technical knowledge to understand. The fact that all the data regarding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant came from the Tokyo Electric Power Company alone, whose irresponsible response after the accident in 2011 aggravated the aftermath, brings into question the authenticity of such data.

TEPCO has a troubling track record of falsifying data and concealing facts. As early as in 2002, TEPCO’s top executives were forced to resign due to data falsification scandals. In 2007, TEPCO admitted to falsifying data in routine inspections at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from 1977 to 2007. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, TEPCO concluded that the core had melted down based on data but did not report this to the Japanese government.

Furthermore, TEPCO didn’t admit the leaks of nuclear-contaminated water in Fukushima until media exposure. TEPCO persistently claimed that no leaks occurred after June 2011, which was revealed in 2013 by the media as a lie. In 2021, TEPCO was accused of concealing leaks caused by corroded storage tanks. In September that year, TEPCO was caught hiding damaged Advanced Liquid Processing System filters. In October 2022, TEPCO was revealed to have misled visitors by using faulty radiation detectors to prove the safety of “treated” water. …The long list of data manipulation by TEPCO exposed to the public its shocking level of deception.

In 2015, both the Japanese government and TEPCO committed in writing to the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives not to take any action regarding treated contaminated water without the consent of relevant parties. Despite these promises, in April 2021, the government decided to release treated contaminated water into the ocean, ignoring protests from the fisheries organizations and the local government of Fukushima. Since then, 16 municipal assemblies have issued statements to demand the government take back the decision, insisting that treated water should be stored on land and urging the government and TEPCO to honor their commitment to fisheries associations. But all these voices went unheard………………………………………………………………………………………

Scientific matters should be resolved via scientific means, without being controlled by a large corporation spanning Japan’s political and business spheres, especially one with such a tainted history……………………. https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202310/30/WS653efd48a31090682a5eb59b.html