Japan dumping nuclear waste water into the ocean? Where is the outrage?

By Caleb Maupin

Japan's attitude reflects its US-influenced corporate culture, and the fact capitalism, whenever left to its own devices, behaves like a repugnantly sociopathic beast.

On August 26th, I was able to speak with three individuals, an expert as well as two media commentators about Japan plan’s for dumping nuclear waste water into the ocean. Paul Derienzo, the news director of the WBAI radio station in New York City has long been an outspoken critic of Nuclear weapons and Nuclear power. Derienzo explained that defenders of Japan’s plans claim the element involved is not harmful, but he thinks otherwise: “Tritium is supposed to just go into your body and out again, and it has a shorter life-span or half life as they call it… 120 years its all gone… They say its not a bad thing if Tritium gets into the vast ocean, it will be diluted and its not that dangerous… It doesn’t make the fish radioactive, but they will have it in their system…”

Comedian Randy Credico, who has been outspoken in his support for Julian Assange, and was a prominent witness in the trial of Roger Stone, was deeply alarmed: “I thought it was some science fiction piece of work, the irony that Japan would put out something as dangerous and toxic and deadly as nuclear waste, they have a history with nuclear weapons and fallout! I hope this is not true! This is something from the Onion.”

The pools which Japan intends to dump originated from the Fukushima Nuclear disaster. Japan insists that because they will only contain Tritium and not other radio-active elements, they will be safe to dispose into the Pacific. Paul Derienzo fears this sets a dangerous precedent for future dumps: “Maybe they’ll dodge a bullet on this tritium release, because its only 120 years and the ocean, but do you think that will be the end of it? Then you’ll never hear the end of it. They did it then, and they’ll do it again. These same tritium pools are underneath every nuclear reactor. Nuclear reactors create tritium like crazy.”

Comic book writer and playwright Brenton Lengel, explained that the concerns of governments throughout the region such as China and South Korea make perfect sense. He remarked: “I think they are probably concerned about fishing rights for one thing, if you dump that amount of radioactive water into the ocean, it is going to have an effect, and a lot of these cultures depend on the ocean for a lot of their food… Nuclear waste is one of the most incredibly deadly substances on earth… it feels like they are passing on the problem. The ocean has traditionally been, except for areas very close to land, a stateless territory.”

Randy Credico remarked that the notion of putting the wastewater into the ocean is particularly alarming: “Its like me putting a tab of cyanide in your drink, if you want that stuff, you want to build those reactors, you want to deal with that waste, put it in your own land, don’t put it in the ocean!”

All the analysts were perplexed by the silence of US-based ecological and environmentalist organizations, and felt more discussion about the issue and Japan future dumping activities were necessary.

Addendum
The Terrifying Story Of The Radium Girls
Radioactivity is not something to be underestimated

Jan 1, 2021

Caleb Maupin is a widely acclaimed speaker, writer, journalist, and political analyst. He has traveled extensively in the Middle East and in Latin America. He was involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement from its early planning stages, and has been involved many struggles for social justice. He is an outspoken advocate of international friendship and cooperation, as well 21st Century Socialism.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of  The Greanville Post. However, we do think they are important enough to be transmitted to a wider audience.