The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries decided to bring the issue of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant before an international organization--the meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Convention and Protocol at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London on October 7-11. Countries will discuss ways to implement a ban on dumping waste and other materials into the sea at this meeting. The South Korean government plans to work with Greenpeace, an international environmental group, to inform member states about the hazards of discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the sea and also seek their cooperation. It is an effort to encourage the Japanese government to properly treat the contaminated water.

Approximately 150 tons of contaminated water is produced at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. At this rate, the amount of contaminated water will exceed the capacity of the storage tanks by 2022. The Japanese government is reviewing various options including solidifying and burying the water underground, releasing it into the air as steam, releasing it as hydrogen after electrolysis, and discharging the water into the sea, but Japan is leaning toward dumping the water into the sea. This means, they will purify the contaminated water by removing cesium and multi-nuclides and dilute the concentration of tritium, which cannot be removed through this process, and release the water into the ocean. This option is favored because it costs less and is rather simple.

However, according to an internal document of the Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO), the contaminated water still contained radioactive substances such as cesium even after the purification process. Also, contrary to Japan's claim that tritium is harmless, the intake of tritium over a long period of time can cause serious diseases in the human body. The release of contaminated water could particularly be devastating to South Korea. Even now, some of the contaminated water flows into the sea mixed with groundwater, and no one knows how much water is flowing into the sea in this manner. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claims that the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is well under control, but his words lack credibility.

The contaminated water from Fukushima is not just a problem for neighboring countries like South Korea. The water can flow into the oceans following the tide, causing damage to the world. In this sense, informing the international community of the problem of the contaminated water from Fukushima and publicly debating this issue is necessary. This should encourage Japan to resolve the problem in a sincere manner. But first, Japan should voluntarily disclose the environmental status of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and actively work to prevent damage.