S Korea calls in Japanese diplomat over plans for Fukushima water

You can kiss Japanese seafood goodbye after Abe administration decides to go ahead with dumping radioactive water into the sea. All nations will ban all seafood import from Japan accordingly.

At the same time, this may give Japan's whale population a new hope, since nobody in Japan would want to eat whale meat that is 100% assured to have come from Japan's radioactive seas.

Another political game being played under the guise of concern for the environment.

Yes the concerns are real, and details should be openly discussed yet the timing is going to be seen as a political ploy to gain support for other issues, and to put Japan on the spot in the eyes of the world!

The Koreans know that making this a big issue will embarrass Japan.

Maybe petty politics and caring for the environment will coincide for once?

Another day, more unfair bullying of Japan by South Korea.

That’s how low S.Korea is willing to go?

All right then; This will give power to to Japan to summon a S.Korean diplomat about the nasty yellow dust full of industrial toxic particles (such as cadmium, Asbestos, arsenic , pesticides and mercury among others) that finds its way to Japan every year from their country.

Fair enough?

I thought that dust came from china.

The Koreans know that making this a big issue will embarrass Japan

Japan should be very embarrassed. And ashamed. Now would be the time to issue the press release saying they’re shutting down all nuclear plants

@Yubaru true but someone has to call them out on it.

Yes the concerns are real, and details should be openly discussed yet the timing is going to be seen as a political ploy to gain support for other issues, and to put Japan on the spot in the eyes of the world!

Especially when you consider that Korea’s Wolseong NPP and Kori NPP releases tritium into the ocean as well.

https://www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuclear/osensuitaisaku/committtee/takakusyu/pdf/008_02_02.pdf

Last page

https://www.meti.go.jp/meti_lib/report/H28FY/000744.pdf

pg 29

SnickersToday  07:22 am JST

I thought that dust came from china.

Well, it comes to Japan through Korea and drag South Korean Pollution to Japan.

So technically its a Korean yellow dust.

Isn't Japanese people who are supposed to be angry about Fukushima?

It is very ignorant if they blame Koreans without criticizing Jp govn.

Non-news.

Greenpeace, have warned about the danger posed by any discharge of the Fukushima water contaminated with tritium into the Pacific Ocean

It's not only Korea who need to do this, other countries in face of this earth should do the same.

We all know the huge amount of contaminated water will be discharged into the ocean. Where else will the government put it?

Tom Webb - We all know the huge amount of contaminated water will be discharged into the ocean. Where else will the government put it?

The problem with this is, there was a report a few months ago stating this water contained far more isotopes than just tritium because their filtering system was inadequate and couldn't cope with the large amounts of water being produced every day. It is true that tritium would be diluted by the ocean with small discharges of tainted water. However, we are not talking about a small discharge. We are talking about a million tons of tainted water. Tritium is irradiated hydrogen and difficult to remove from water. However, there is a group of American scientists who have developed a technique to remove tritium from water, but it is expensive and time consuming. It's easier and cheaper for Japan just to dump it all into the ocean regardless of the environmental impact.

Japan has had over 8 years to develop a strategy to deal with this water. However, they have been sitting on their hands waiting for the day to come that they have no choice other than to dump in the ocean. This has been their plan all along. Japan's handling of this manmade disaster is a disgusting stain on all humanity and Japan should be penalised for it.

kurisupisuToday  06:50 am JST

The Koreans know that making this a big issue will embarrass Japan.

Kurisuoisu - MAKING this a big issue? Mate, this has been a big issue for 8 years. It's woefully evident that the J-Gov / TEPCO cartel is a rotten house of cards, with no clue as to how to deal with the chaos their negligence has unleashed, and is planning to commit ecological vandalism on an industrial scale.

Japan should be embarrassed. Remember "Don't worry, it's only steam"? How about "Fukushima is completely under control"?

Generations of lies, greed and complacency have reaped a radioactive harvest. Japan will - will - discharge this lethal cargo into the ocean. Anyone on these islands who is neither ashamed nor furious should turn off the NHK propaganda channel and read something.

more unfair bullying of Japan by South Korea.

Facts care not for your feelings.

I thought that dust came from china.

It does. But seeing as facts really do sting, some people can't help themselves by resorting to fake information to justify their bias. Rather laughable actually.

Japan has had over 8 years to develop a strategy to deal with this water. However, they have been sitting on their hands waiting for the day to come that they have no choice other than to dump in the ocean. This has been their plan all along. Japan's handling of this manmade disaster is a disgusting stain on all humanity and Japan should be penalised for it.

AMEN!!!!

Discharge into the Pacific won't directly affect Korean waters due to the Kuroshio current.

Nonetheless, calling attention to it is tactical stirring of the pot.

Its hard to believe people will support polluting their own seas, seafood and people with radioactivity in a backward attempt to be nationalist, but look at the vote counts. Uyoku are dumb as bricks.

Uyoku are dumb as bricks.

And then some.

Another day, more unfair bullying of Japan by South Korea.

Instead of writing another anti-Korean, silly, intellectually poor and victim-playing comment, why don't you share with us your thoughts (if we assume you can even think) on the fact Japan wants to discharge contaminated water into the ocean?

Korea has absolutely the rights to call out Japan on this as all countries should do, as well as the Japanese population itself. But fort the latter one, my hope are low given that they are formatted to just be apathetic to anything or plain nationalist.

can you just push nuclear waste out into the ocean like its nothing? wow

Its certainly an issue, one that needs transparency and good management.

Its likely as distasteful as it is there is little choice.. but that it will end up in the ocean sadly.

The timing seems.. well part of the current political situation but I don't think it unreasonable for South Korea to ask.

I feel the majority of posters on this site have the tendency to lose his/her sense of right or wrong immediately whenever South Korea is involved. It's like a child who refuses to do the right thing just because the kid next door wants it to be done. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_South_Korea

23 nuclear reactors. all on the coasts. Why? Because every nuclear reactor around the world sited near the ocean discharges its waste water AFTER treatment which ALWAYS leaves minuscule amounts of trition, which at this point NO ONE knows how to remove safely and economically and it is deemed internationally safe. There are efforts to find a method to remove tritium in Japan and around the world - mostly lab scale --and Japan tested one that was closer to commercial operation - but so far nothing works 100% with these kinds of volumes. And it nuc plant wastewater is in fact discharged every single day by nuc reactors around the world including the ones in South Korea. I am NOT a proponent of nuc energy in Japan given our geological and climatic volatility and with no viable plan to deal with the wastes generated by nuc energy including the dismantling of the plants when they reach end of life. BUT science is still science. The single biggest risk to ocean environments is if there is another major earthquake/tsunami in the Fukushima area and 1 MILLION tons of stored but treated waste water is let loose in an uncontrolled situation. Much safer for everyone if it is released very slowly in an appropriate ocean location under internationally monitored controlled conditions. Truly hard to now separate this latest complaint with the others now being raised of late from Seoul of various materials being shipped from Japan to Korea.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/16/business/south-korea-japan-radiation-checks/#.XVtHY-gzaF4

Good. People have forgotten it. They need to be reminded and Japan needs to be shamed for something that should have been avoided or at the least not as bad as its become.

@Yubaru

Although this article only mentions Korea, China was the first country to call in Japan in regards to this issue. Russians also said they would like to discuss it with Japan. So this isn't a political stunt. Its a real issue that affects all the surrounding areas. I don't know if you know this or not, but the waters are connected.

Fast forward 10 years, I can already just see how some Japanese commenters here on this site are going to typically glorify this whole incident.

“Yes, we dumped radioactive waste into the ocean, BUT we created all sorts of newly mutated fish for man’s consumption and voyeurism, especially when whales mysteriously have become extinct.”

Regular water is H₂O (H-O-H). Tritium water is T-O-H. If T (tritium) only can stick to another substance from such water, the new substance can be put in the small container. If someone discovered the new solution, he/she can get a Nobel Prize. It seems Japan is studying harder about it and maybe gets another Nobel Prize in the future. Because all nuclear power plants (boiling type) beside seaside/ocean are dumping more or less tritium water into ocean.

Another day, more unfair bullying of Japan by South Korea.

Korea is not a bully; more like a spoiled child.

@Edo Naito

Why? Because every nuclear reactor around the world sited near the ocean discharges its waste water AFTER treatment

You clearly have no idea how pressurized water reactors work.

Nuclear reactors are located near the sea to cool the steam back to liquid water to be cycled back into the reactor core. This steam-generation at the reactor core - turbine rotation - cooling into liquid water - return to steam-generation is a closed-loop cycle where no radiation is leaked.

In case seawater cooling is not available, cooling tower was used. Basically same thing as seawater cooling, but with the waste hear released into atmosphere via cooling tower instead of seawater cooler. Is radiation leaked into air with cooling tower solution? Absolutely not.

So, have strong views about the handling of the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean.

However, that said....

Remind me, how this will affect South Korea???

They are to the west of Japan, with the Sea of Japan between them and Japan.

And the discharge will be on the east side of Japan into the Pacific Ocean, which will have absolutely no impact on South Korean waters!!!

So, why the protest????

It doesn't take a genius to realize that every organ of the Korean government has been conscripted in the anti-Japan fight, no matter how outlandish and ridiculous those efforts are!!

The South Korean government is nothing more than a petulant child at this point, throwing a massive tantrum to try to get what they want!! And they themselves still do not know what they want!!

@zones2surf - Remind me, how this will affect South Korea???

It will effect the whole planet either directly or indirectly. Of course SK is just using this as a platform to have another bitch at Japan, but the problem is real and needs to be addressed by the international community.

@zones2surf

how this will affect South Korea???

It will take the maximum of 2 years before radioactive water reaches China and Korea. Russia gets it sooner.

Please watch this video to see the animation of radioactivity's spread from Fukushima.

https://youtu.be/wJlyZoIyc-w?t=96

It is said tritium composition is breaking faster after 12 years. Tritium water becomes almost regular water with much much lesser tritium after 20 years. It is acceptable that much lesser tritium water is discharged into ocean at that time. Tritium is not same as Cesium.

It is important that Japan politely and sincerely explain to International Community but it is not necessary at all to do it only to South Korea bilaterally

Go on SK, tell us how much money you need to be quiet about this too. Everything about you has a price tag.

So according to some as long than Japan have a not good relationship with some others countries, these countries should not be allowed to voice concern about stuff planned by Japan which will have an impact on them and wanting to get more information about the plan.

That is kind of pretty convenient.

As said by several before, this is an international issue so everyone need to be involved to make sure the impact will be as near as possible as irrelevant.

The Koreans know that making this a big issue will embarrass Japan.

Well, it SHOULD embarrass Japan.

I think that South Korea has a valid point.

Food from the Sea of Japan (East Sea) is shared by both countries. Radiation does not recognise boundaries, whether they are lines on maps, or cultural.

So what's the purpose of doing this now? GE should provide solutions to this problem since it's the one having sold nuclear power plants to Japan despite opposition.

As for sk, if they want Japan to fall all the way and extinct so sk can take over Japan? Go ahead. Take care of Fukushima. If they are such geniuses, they've already come up with solutions. If not, good luck with cleaning it up by constantly criticizing Japan. Ugly.

@Disillusioned,

It will effect the whole planet either directly or indirectly. Of course SK is just using this as a platform to have another bitch at Japan, but the problem is real and needs to be addressed by the international community.

Well, yes, as I said in my first sentence.

But the idea that South Korea is raising this has absolutely nothing to do with their concern for the whole planet or even their economic interests.

They just want another excuse to throw a tantrum at Japan. Driven by the current state of affairs between the two countries.

@Samit Basu,

It will take the maximum of 2 years before radioactive water reaches China and Korea. Russia gets it sooner.

Setting aside whether what you say is true, let's assume it is. Have Russia or PRC done what South Korea done in terms of their actions against the Japanese government?? I don't think so. South Korea's motivations have absolutely NOTHING to do with this and EVERYTHING to do with the current friction between the two countries. Just a petulant action by a South Korea.

@Ex-Res,

I think that South Korea has a valid point.

Food from the Sea of Japan (East Sea) is shared by both countries. Radiation does not recognise boundaries, whether they are lines on maps, or cultural.

You do realize that Fukushima is on the EAST side of Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean, not the WEST side of Japan, facing the Sea of Japan, yes???

if SK, as the closest country to Japan, is the only country strongly demanding an explanation at the present time? By your logic Japan needs to offer as detailed an explanation to Croatia as it does to SK, but that illogical just like most neto-uyo Japan apologists here.

Regarding Japan's whitelist, S Korea suddenly officially announced the list of 156 illegal exports from S Korea, so Japan asked the more details of 156 illegal exports, but S Korea has not answered yet to Japan. The list has dates, names of companies, but no destinations of materials/products.

I can't understand why S. Korea to complain many things and coming to this Fukushima nuclear power plant destroyed by that earthquake and Tsunami. If Kwon Se Jung, the director general in charge of climate change and environmental affairs at the ministry complains Japan for this case I'll complain him to find many Korean garbage and trash coming from his country to the beaches of Kyushu where I live. I worked on board of a survey ship and I have found so many trash floating from southern cities of S. Korea. I'll be the one who wants to know what is that discharge plan to live in Japan and why should he know, ignoring the vast garbage freely discharged there?

@Heckleberry,

SK is the closest country to Japan by distance and without the huge land mass of Russia and China which dilutes the scale of the issue in those countries.

Um, you have looked at a map, yes?

And you do realize that the Fukushima is on the EAST side of Japan, with the discharge going into the Pacific Ocean, with the currents in the area going to the east, away from Korea.

Which is why debris from the 2011 tsunami has ended up on the West coast of the U.S. But NOT on the coast of South Korea.

Seriously, South Korea's proximity to Japan, when considered in relation to the scientific facts, is absolutely irrelevat!!

Here is an article who actually studied the incident in detail;

https://phys.org/news/2019-08-fukushima-disaster-key-takeaways-years.html

Even though the levels of radiation in the area and in the marine organisms were elevated, they were actually not a threat to the ecosystem or to human consumers in most cases.

Through our research we found that due to the massive currents present in the ocean, this radioactivity deposited into the ocean was quickly dispersed. The most problematic marine organisms were those found in the harbor near the plant, but the levels of radioactivity in that area reduce exponentially as one moves away from the area. The radioactivity levels are rarely a cause for concern.

I can't understand why S. Korea to complain many things 

It seems Korea was under colonization for 30 years from 1910 to 1945 by Japan and still remains greatly regrettable until today. That's why they can not move on from the miserable past.

@heckleberry,

https://youtu.be/wJlyZoIyc-w?t=96

Re-posted from above. From a German reaearch group. It will take you less than a minute to watch the simulation. Please do.

We can't all be environmental scientists, but thankfully we can rely on scientists to share their findings.

Oh, right, because "scientists" are above reproach, right?!

A "scientist" said so, so by jove, it must be true!!

Today's "scientists" are nothing more than hired hacks and panhandlers, seeking grants from all comers and then generating "research" to benefit said benefactors.

But, again, if it is so dire, why is not China or Russia complaining?!

Hint: Because South Korea is just playing the victim yet again and the mindless news organizations eat it up!!

Umm ... am I missing something here? People seem to be reacting like this is something new. TEPCO and the J-gov have been dumping contaminated water into the ocean for years, just not perhaps this much all at once. Why are people reacting like this is the first time?

Another day, more unfair bullying of Japan by South Korea.

Poisoning the sea is not bullying, South Korea is just letting the world know that Koreans and the rest of the world are about to be poisoned with tons upon tons of radioactive water dumped into the sea. The seafood we eat will never be the same. SHAME ON YOU JAPAN.

Are people really using Russia and China as the moral high ground in the pollution debate? Russia has at least one nuclear submarine sitting at the bottom of the ocean near Norway that is leaking radiation IN the ocean. They also recently had an accident releasing radiation into the air. And China has so much pollution that at one point it blew over to Japan. Shining examples of nuclear and pollution safety...

Shin Ra for your information Kursk was raised 1 year after disaster.

It says in Japanese newspapers that by 2022 there won't be space for contaminated water as it raises everyday by 150 tones.

So yes, Japanese will dump water to the Ocean which will contaminate seafood. Current will push it to Canada and USA and their seafood will be contaminated but at this point it's not Japan's problem.

After shortly reading into this matter I realize, there are many wrong information also spread in the comments here. That famous simulation video above is nothing more than how an indicator is being diluted in the Pacific. It does not carry any information on the current subject except the dilution in the ocean currents (with btw. does not consider any neccessary 3D projection, it's surface and even there has very tiny numbers. Anybody recognized the scale?)

So, what is to be relased? Tritium! Read it up, it is nothing compared to other material from a nuclear power plant. In fact, the planned amount to be released is less(!) than any other average nuclear power plant releases! Every year(!) Sellafield in the UK or La Hague in France release similar amounts of Tritium, sometimes even with a higher Becquerel amount than now planned at Fukushima! "The main problem is only the image problem." Oh, this information btw. is also from Germany (and backed by many scientists) from an interview with Christian Küppers from the Eco-Institute at Darmstadt.

The fact, that South Korea summend the Japanese diplomats show clearly again, that this matter is not environmentally based, it's simple Japan bashing! If they were concerned, they would talk in a sophisticated manner and not threaten the public raging. The ambition is obvious.

Here is the link for my post above (for any doubters): https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.wdr.de%2Fwissen%2Ftechnik%2Ffukushima-radioaktives-wasser-meer-100.html

Japan has been trying not to release this water, by filtering it and storing it in tanks for as long as physically possible.

The water will be released anyway, naturall, as the tanks age and degrade. That day approaches. Some of the half-life will have been spent in the meantime.

The only choice is to actively manage the release, or to allow it to go any way it chooses.

If you go with active management, then there needs to be a decision.

Can the water be shipped in tankers to deeper waters at a point far from anywhere?

@ zones2surf

Seriously, South Korea's proximity to Japan, when considered in relation to the scientific facts, is absolutely irrelevat!!

Absolutely is relevant. You think fish and other sea creatures on the east coast of Japan will just stay on the east coast. There’s no border patrol in the ocean. The fact that Fukushima is on the east coast of Japan is irrelevant.

@saitamaliving

After shortly reading into this matter I realize, there are many wrong information also spread in the comments here.

Seems like you and other posters here are trying to downplay incidents yet again. Even TEPCO admitted that it failed to remove dangerous radioactive contaminants stored in the tanks.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-nuclear-water/eight-years-on-water-woes-threaten-fukushima-cleanup-idUSKCN1QP0MA

Last year, Tokyo Electric Power Co said a system meant to purify contaminated water had failed to remove dangerous radioactive contaminants.

That means most of that water - stored in 1,000 tanks around the plant - will need to be reprocessed before it is released into the ocean, the most likely scenario for disposal.

Reprocessing could take nearly two years and divert personnel and energy from dismantling the tsunami-wrecked reactors, a project that will take up to 40 years.

@ Alexandre T. Ishii

I can't understand why S. Korea to complain many things and coming to this Fukushima nuclear power plant destroyed by that earthquake and Tsunami.

Where in the article did it say Koreans were complaining?

I think so many Japanese people here have such a victim mentality. When the Chernobyl meltdown occurred, the Japanese government demanded the Soviets give a full apology because the radiation reached Japan. When it comes to Fukushima though, you now complain that neighboring countries can’t raise concerns about radiation being purposely dumped into the ocean, let alone provide apologies to affected countries just as the Japanese had expected apologies from the Soviets. Talk about hypocrisy!

I think Seoul has every right to demand to know how Tokyo will deal with contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant that was damaged by an earthquake and subsequent tsunamis Tokyo can’t keep installing a tank after a tank forever to contain the water flow.

At the same time, I wonder how Seoul will deal with a similar accident that may occur in one of the many nuclear power plants they have in South Korea.

Voice, I agree. In such a similar scenario in their own countries I strongly suspect that China or Korea would dump first and answer questions later.

Oh, and Russia just dumped some of their old submarine reactors into the sea between Korea and Japan.

PS ‘just’ above means simply. It was quite a few years back.

Japanese government demanded the Soviets give a full apology because the radiation reached Japan. 

This is a big lie because an apology did not make accident situation better. Japan wanted enough information of the accident soon at that time, but Soviet did not release enough information soon to the world, but it released much latter.

Japanese government demanded the Soviets give a full apology because the radiation reached Japan. 

correction:

This is a big lie because an apology would have not made accident situation better. Japan wanted enough information of the accident soon at that time, but Soviet did not release enough information soon to the world, but it released much latter.

@Tom Doley

Seems like you and other posters here are trying to downplay incidents yet again.

I strongly oppose your accusation of downplaying the accident. I warned and continue to warn about the accident and that Japan was really lucky in an unlucky event: If it hadn't been for the strong wind blowing strong and straight onto the ocean during the explosions, a much wieder land area woul've been contaminated by radioactive fallout material making nearly half of Japan uninhabitable. Until today I miss this important part being told to the public officially. But the topic here is something else!

Even TEPCO admitted that it failed to remove dangerous radioactive contaminants stored in the tanks.

The article describes and Tepco admitting the problem of not thoroughly cleaning the water yet (because of probably five solutions still being discussed). You stop quoting afterwards. Here's the rest:

"Tepco said the problems occurred because absorbent materials in the equipment had not been changed frequently enough. The utility has promised to re-purify the water if the government decides that releasing it into the ocean is the best solution."

So I expect Tepco to actually do exactly that, re-purify it and then we would have the situation I explained above. They are being watched by the world and the press and believe me there will be numerous NGOs out in the Pacific to get water samples by the time of releasing water to make sure about the promises.

Japan needs to do a good job in informing about the plan including comparison examples, so the Korean attempt to link the event with its politics against Japan will hopefully fail.

Shin Ra for your information Kursk was raised 1 year after disaster.

Not talking about the Kursk, The Komsomolets is still at the bottom of the ocean. This just shows how poor their track record is with these nuclear submarines...

Korea was one of the first countries to send aid and volunteer rescue squads when Fukushima disaster happened. Knowing that radioactive water is being held in precarious containers with no clear plan for how to safely store them for the long run is insane. How the hell would you not be worried about it if you're Korea.

The Government has allowed sea water to be pumped over the reactors and that wster to run back into the ocean for some years now.

According to an Australian sailor, who sailed solo from Tokyo to Hawaii some years back. he did not see one living thing the width of the ocean.

This disaster is not Japan's problem, it is the world's problem and so all nations must contribute to contain the contamination, before it is too late.

This is not a time for recriminatios. but global solutions.

Some may counter my argument by saying that South Korea is more advanced in nuclear power plant technology and so there'd be no such accident as occurred in Fukushima, Chernobuile or Three Mile Island.

But pundits say building nuclear power plants is like building houses equipped with no sewage systems anywhere in the world. Has South Korea found a way to solve this problem?

Quote from above: "This disaster is not Japan's problem, it is the world's problem and so all nations must contribute to contain the contamination, before it is too late."

Yes, it is world's problem in the sense that it must deal with the nuclear mess that Japan has created, but it is foremost Japan's problem clean up the mess. As the saying goes, this is Japan.

@saitamaliving

The article describes and Tepco admitting the problem of not thoroughly cleaning the water yet (because of probably five solutions still being discussed).......

There you go, downplaying the incident again. Do you really think “failed to remove the dangerous radioactive contaminants” and “not thoroughly cleaning the water” are the same? The former implies that they attempted to remove the contaminants but failed. Also, most disposal options require the treatment of the contaminated water first. It’s not like that they have to decide on the disposal method and re-start the purification process thereafter. Further, you have the issues of limited storage space and the re-purification expected to take several years. It’s not all that hunky dory like you make it out to be.

But then again, you have so much faith in a government that is not being transparent about the whole thing at all, not to mention that they even manipulated (lowered) the “safe” radiation level to encourage people to return to Fukushima. Then you have an organization like TEPCO that has taken 7 years to admit that it had failed to decontaminate the water, 8 years to fix this issue, and still even to this date, cannot even decide how it will handle the contaminated water.

The Korean government has every reason to raise a legitimate concern to the Japanese ambassador, especially when Greenpeace (one of the NGO's you referred to) informed Korea during their recent visit that Japan’s intention is to dump the contaminated water imminently due to cost and convenience. Yet, you lambaste this as “Japan bashing”. Then you had the audacity to ramble on about how you were concerned about the radioactive fallout. So when Korea is concerned, it's bashing. When you are concerned, you're proud of such fact. There's one word for that double standard - hypocrisy.

@kwatt

This is a big lie because an apology would have not made accident situation better. Japan wanted enough information of the accident soon at that time, but Soviet did not release enough information soon to the world, but it released much latter.

So according to you, you only ask for an apology to make situations better? Pathetic. I hope this is only your thought and not representative of the Japanese people.

And for the record, I was living in Japan when this happened, so I know this incident very well as some of us expats were very concerned, given all the hype in the media.

Japanese government demanded the Soviets give a full apology because the radiation reached Japan. 

@Tom Doley

So you were in Japan at that time. You thought Japanese government demanded an apology from Soviet about radiation. Japan will never demand such a thing. Japan rather wanted to support/help them and to give whatever Soviet wanted on stopping the worst accident. One thing I can say is If a country really demanded an apology, that country would be S Korea because radiation also reached S Korea. It always demands apology whenever it suffers something.

@kwatt

First you say Japan would never seek an apology because it wouldn’t have made the accident situation any better, then you say Japan wanted enough information which was only provided at a far later date, then you say Japan wanted to help the Soviets, then you say it was South Korea that demanded the apology because radiation reached Korea.

Dear oh dear, excuse after excuse after excuse. One thing is for sure, this mentality has not changed since the 80s.

@Tom Doley

Japan has never demanded/sought any apology from Soviet/Russia about the accident so far. Seeking apology really makes nothing in the first place. It would just provoke Soviet. Before helping / supporting the Soviet, Japan and also other nations would surely need enough information of the accident. Actually Japan proposed it but Soviet refused it. If you do believe Japan demanded Soviet give full apology, please show us any evidence that Japan did it. No doubt S Korea did it. You really seem more pathetic.

@kwatt

If you do believe Japan demanded Soviet give full apology, please show us any evidence that Japan did it. No doubt S Korea did it.

Which part of I lived in Japan do you not understand? I was privy to all the news there. Go to your nearest library and look up archived newspapers. It ain’t digital era back then.

You really seem more pathetic.

Good, at least you acknowledge you are one. As for me being ‘more’, we know that’s one on your stubborn excuses.

@Tom

I'm not making any excuses of anything. I'm telling the truth. It seems you could not reach any evidence. I told you Japan did not demand such a stupid thing at all. Japan does know demanding a casual apology hurts people and also makes more troubles in the future. S Koreans do not care about it.

kwatt: "S Koreans do not care about it."

They care about poisoned water. Shame you don't. Would you drink Fukushima water? or if your family didn't want to, would you get angry at them?

Would you drink Fukushima water?

No, but I buy and eat Fukushima tomatoes, peaches,,,,etc when I found any food from Fukushima in supermarkets. These are very safe and no radiation substances.

I am surprised the government and Tepco has not considered using the latest sieve technology to solve the water and ocean contamination problem. Sieves can remove the Uranium atom from water! Something to at least investigate?