Japanese
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday a 20.7 billion yen
($141 million) emergency fund to help exporters hit by a ban on Japanese
seafood imposed by China in response to the release of treated
radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The
discharge of the wastewater into the ocean began Aug. 24 and is
expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing associations and
groups in neighboring countries have strongly opposed the release, and
China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood. Hong Kong has
banned Japanese seafood from Fukushima and nine other prefectures.
Chinese
trade restrictions have affected Japanese seafood exporters since even
before the release began, with shipments held up at Chinese customs for
weeks. Prices of scallops, sea cucumbers and other seafood popular in
China have plunged. The ban has affected prices and sales of seafood
from places as far away from Fukushima as the northern island of
Hokkaido, home to many scallop growers.
Kishida said the
emergency fund is in addition to 80 billion yen ($547 million) that the
government previously allocated to support fisheries and seafood
processing and combat damage to the reputation of Japanese products.
“We
will protect the Japanese fisheries industry at all costs,” Kishida
said, asking people to help out by serving more seafood at dinner tables
and other ways.
The money will be used to find new markets for
Japanese seafood to replace China and fund government purchases of
seafood for temporary freezing and storage. The government will also
seek to expand domestic seafood consumption.
Officials said they
plan to cultivate new export destinations in Taiwan, the United States,
Europe, the Middle East and some southeast Asian countries — such as
Malaysia and Singapore.
Anonymous
Since our First Lady is Japanese Huat!
ReplyDeleteSupport lah even not safe
Japan Whitewash Nuclear-Contaminated Radioactive Wastewater with Normal Nuclear Wastewater
ReplyDeleteOne of TEPCO and the Japanese government's main efforts to whitewash its nuclear-contaminated radioactive wastewater dumping plan is to confuse the concept with normal nuclear wastewater.
But the two concepts are entirely different.
Normal nuclear wastewater is generated during the normal operation of nuclear reactors and the application of radioisotopes in nuclear power plants, such as reactor coolants. Such wastewater does not directly come in contact with nuclear fuel and reactants, and is released safely.
However, radioactive wastewater or nuclear-contaminated wastewater is generated after coolant directly comes in contact with radioactive materials when released after a nuclear reactor shield is broken accidentally. Such wastewater is highly radioactive and contains dozens of radioactive materials that are seriously harmful to human being and the environment. Some radioactive materials in this water have very long half-lives. Iodine-129, for instance, has a half-life of 15.7 million years and Carbon-14's half-life is 5,730 years.
Moreover, at a normal power plant, nuclear materials are enclosed within the reactor. But when the reactor is destroyed, the nuclear materials might continue to leak out and dissolve in the water, making the water contaminated and leading to long-term damage.
Taking these facts into account, the wastewater dumped from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is typical nuclear-contaminated wastewater. Confusing such water with normal nuclear wastewater reflects a guilty conscience and the knowledge that dumping the water into the ocean is wrong, experts pointed out.
They asked that if Japan equates the nuclear wastewater produced by a normal reactor to nuclear-contaminated wastewater, and really believes that the water it is dumping is clean and safe, why doesn't the country reuse it as industrial water?
Anon 9.20 you are correct. Most people assume incorrectly that nuclear plant wastewater as only of one category, similar to those normal cooling water discharged by almost all nuclear power plants, mostly into the sea. Just because those water also came out of a nuclear power plant, therefore they are trotted out as being the same as what comes out of Fukishima Nuclear Power Plant. Nothing is further from the truth.
ReplyDeleteWhat comes out of Fukishima Nuclear Power Plant is anything but that, which I pointed out in an earlier comment. The Japanese are trying to muddy the waters, claiming that China also discharged nuclear plant wastewater into the sea. Only China is singled out as a culprit. There is a world of difference and the Japanese are just harping on that and using that to justify their action.
Those that are unaware will be taking the Japanese proclamation at face value. Never trust the Japanese. Even when they say the discharged contaminated wastewater is safe for drinking, or that days after the discharge their leaders were having a Japanese fish meal party, or that some USA ambassadors just went to the Fukishima area purposefully to eat fish and fruits. Those are just nothing more than advertisements for misinformation or even disinformation.
If the Japanese cannot fool normal people like us, do they honestly think they can fool the Chinese? Or the South Korean people, apart from Yoon, LOL? The Japanese Government could not even convince their own people over the safety of what they are doing. It is good that the Japanese Government is promoting domestic demand for Japanese seafood, saving others from radiation issues. China is already looking to Russia for supply of seafood from the Northern regions and supply is making good headway. Another lifeline of support for Russia and a blessing in disguise for Russia? The enemy of my enemy is my friend holds true, right? What are friends for anyway?