OCD to Japan: Don’t dump nuke water

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) expressed its concern yesterday over Japan’s plan to release nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean in the coming weeks.

OCD administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said they are appealing to the Japanese government to “reconsider this course of action, explore other alternative options, and continue its study on the implications of their planned disposal of nuclear contaminated water.”

“We trust that Japan will keep the welfare of the peoples of the Asia-Pacific region and the protection of the ocean paramount,” he added.

Nepomuceno said the OCD will convene the science-based agencies of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council such as the Departments of Health, Science and Technology and Environment and Natural Resources as well as the DOST’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to evaluate the possible impact of Japan’s plan to dump the water.

At least 1.3 million tons of wastewater has accumulated at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 12 years after it was damaged by a tsunami in 2011.

The facility’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said storage space for the water is about to run out.

The OCD said marine experts have warned that the radioactive isotope tritium in the wasterwater poses environmental, ecological and biological hazards.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is expected to announce its final assessment of the wastewater disposal later this month.