Japan's nuke wasterwater discharge poses serious threat to world's oceans: S. Korean lawmakers

SEOUL, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Japan's planned discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean will pose a serious threat to the world's oceans, lawmakers of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party said Thursday.

"The discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima (Daiichi) Nuclear Power Plant poses a serious threat to the world's oceans," Wi Seong-gon, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chief of the party's prevention committee on the release of Fukushima nuclear wastewater, told a press conference with foreign correspondents here.

"Many experts believe that the release of contaminated water into the ocean is an unprecedented event in history and will have a devastating impact on the health and lives of current and future generations," said Wi.

The lawmaker said the discharge will violate Articles 192, 194 and 207 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which stipulates that the best methods should be used to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s report on the discharge cannot give Japan immunity for the release of contaminated water into the sea, as the report failed to verify the performance of the advanced liquid processing system (ALPS) and examine the long-term impact of the discharge on the marine ecosystem, Wi noted.

"The discharge into the ocean is not the only solution," Chu Chul-hyun, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, citing five disposal plans proposed in 2018 by the subcommittee on handling ALPS treated water, an advisory body under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The proposed plans included geosphere injection, underground burial, hydrogen release, vapor release as well as discharge into the ocean.

Woo Won-shik, a Democratic Party lawmaker who has been on a hunger strike for 11 days to protest against the Fukushima wastewater release, told the press conference that the first four options, other than the discharge option, will not harm any country outside of Japan despite higher costs.

"It is hard to understand for me why Japan wants to choose the discharge option harming the neighboring countries," said Woo.

Woo said South Korean people had a big question in mind over why the United States said nothing about it, urging the international community to oppose the discharge together as it is a clear violation of international law and leaves a bad precedent in the history of humankind.

"If the contaminated water release is allowed this time, do we have to allow another discharge into the ocean every time similar accidents happen in the future? The international community has to answer it," Woo said.