July 28, 2020

Three Dietmembers of the Japanese Communist Party on July 27 submitted to the government a written demand urging the government to not form a hasty conclusion in regard to its plan to dispose of tritium-tainted water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

The three Dietmembers were Takahashi Chizuko (House of Representatives) and Kami Tomoko and Iwabuchi Tomo (House of Councilors).

Regarding ways to dispose of tritium-polluted water produced at the Fukushima NPP, the government is discussing two plans, ocean discharge and air discharge.

The JCP written demand addressed to Economy Minister Kajiyama Hiroshi points out that concern is growing that the government and the Fukushima NPP operator Tokyo Electric Power Company might make a decision on a disposal plan during the summer months. It stresses that because a sufficient national debate on the issue is impossible due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government should not jump to a conclusion and instead carefully consider the options available, and continue keeping the radioactive water in storage tanks at the NPP site.

In response, an Economy Ministry official in charge of the promotion of the Fukushima reconstruction, while saying that the ministry will listen to the opinions of a wide range of people, insisted that under the current storage tank plan, all the present tanks will be filled to capacity soon.

Takahashi pointed out that a hasty decision that ignores opposition from the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly and local assemblies of 21 municipalities in the prefecture will lead to serious problems in the future. She said that the government should spend enough time for thorough discussions and solicit ideas for viable options.

Kami demanded that the government work to come up with a solution that will not further harm the victims of the Fukushima nuclear accident, such as fishermen and farmers.

Past related articles:
> Local assemblies in Fukushima oppose plan to release radioactive Fukushima water into ocean [July 8, 2020]
> Fukushima residents oppose gov’t plan to discharge radioactive Fukushima water into ocean [April 7, 2020]