I'm pretty sure the water was already desalinated before the reverse osmosis process? You kind of have to remove the salt before moving on to the smaller radionuclides.
I get the widespread mistrust towards the Japanese government and TEPCO's claimed figures, but:
There's concern abound that neither party is exactly being objective — the IAEA, after all, is an advocate for nuclear energy, while the conservative Yoon admin has bowed to Japan on some very controversial issues before — but I think that we all ought to remember the third point:
- No part of this is really new. Radionuclide contamination in water
is an issue we've known about for decades (mostly from natural ore reserves leaching into groundwater), and the water treatment methods we've developed to deal with it are quite mature. Plus basically every nuclear power plant worldwide — including both Japanese and South Korean
ones — already released tritiated water on a regular basis long before the Fukushima disaster.
I mean, the optics aren't fantastic regardless. The history of nuclear technology is inextricably linked to colonialism; I've written a bit here in the past about how nuclear mining, testing and waste dumping disproportionately affected (ex-)colonial subjects in the past. But this is also a very well-understood process that spanned over a decade of international cooperation and has been thoroughly reviewed by the relevant international bodies to boot.
And well, if the figures were bogus, then the Japanese government itself would be the first to deal with the physical consequences.*
One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), came to Seoul on Friday.
Unexpectedly, more protests came on the Fukushima water.
HK SAR government will do a seafood ban from Japan for 10 years after the discharge begins for public health reasons.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230724/p2a/00m/0na/011000c
Mainichi Shimbun did a poll on releasing the wastewater from Fukushima and 44% of respondents say that they’re fine with it.
https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/14969137
Seem like anglerfish from Ibaraki are in trouble since they’re under a likely ban from Hong Kong. They’re exported for Nabe hotpot.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230812/p2g/00m/0in/036000c
South Korean protests have started again.
——
Chinese sources mention that the blanket seafood ban is to protect consumers.
HKFP editorial mention the hypocrisy of Chinese criticism as they pollute more than Japan in terms of the wastewater.
BBC reported that the release of the water from Fukushima could be done within 48 hours.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/japan-fukushima-nuclear-plant-water-safe-china-us-3703911
Good CNA commentary on the question of whether the water from Fukushima is safe.
The catch is it depends on which country you're asking.
Edited by Ominae on Aug 22nd 2023 at 9:22:55 AM
South Korean police arrested 16 university students for trying to bust into a commercial building that houses the Japanese Embassy.
Diaoyutai Education Association in Taiwan is condemning the release of the wastewater and called on Taipei to not be an accomplice.
Malaysians are now starting to monitor Japanese seafood imports.
Edited by Ominae on Aug 24th 2023 at 11:25:00 AM

Yeah, it's an ocean-cooled plant. Keeping it in japan literally just means "have a huge vat of ocean water doing nothing in particular on an island with very limited space to do anything due to the rough terrain".
Besides, it's perfectly safe, so sayeth nuclear technicians, who are notoriously very good with safety.