Expert says Fukushima wastewater release may affect Philippines

Wastewater from a nuclear plant disaster, treated and released by Japan into the ocean, could reach the Philippines, an expert said.

Japan has started releasing treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi power station, 12 years after the nuclear meltdown at the plant caused by the massive 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

It has been a controversial move, with countries including China and South Korea protesting the risk of contamination.

In a report by JP Soriano on "24 Oras," an expert from the University of the Philippines' Marine Science Institute warned that the flow of the Pacific Ocean could eventually bring the treated water to our shores.

"Yung tubig kasi sa Pacific Ocean umiikot ito..." said chemical oceanography Professor Maria Lourdes San Diego-McGlone. "'Yung tubig na dumadaan sa Japan, aakyat muna 'yun sa north, pataas, and then babalik 'yun sa kabilang side ng Pacific, sa eastern side of the Pacific, tapos dadalhin ng North Equatorial Current, dadaan ng Pilipinas...so 'yung north  directly na mare-release hindi 'yun mararamdaman ng Pilipinas until bumalik 'yun, umikot yung tubig pabalik sa atin."

San Diego-McGlone suggested that a monitoring station should be set up in Catanduanes, which could be the first area in the Philippines reached by the treated wastewater.

“'Yung unang isla na tatamaan ay Catanduanes, so kailangan siguro mayroong monitoring station doon so ma-monitor mo yung accumulation nung radioactive isotope, nung tritium sa mga isda, sa mga marine organism, even sa food-chain,” she said.

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claimed that the 1.3 million metric tons of waste water passed their assessments and will pose almost no radiological impact on the public and wildlife.

The Department of Foreign Affairs vowed to place a priority on protecting the Philippine archipelago’s marine environment in their ongoing scientific assessment of the issue.

The Japanese government initially signed off on the plan to release Fukushima radioactive wastewater in 2021, and received green light from the United Nations Watchdog last July.

No abnormalities were observed after the first release at 1:03 p.m. Japan time (0403 GMT) on Thursday.

Japan will gradually release the radioactive wastewater in a span of over three decades. — Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/BM, GMA Integrated News