British Experts Vouch for Safety of Japan’s Water Discharge; Lower Tritium Levels than Discharges in China Cited

By Kazuhiko Makita / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

18:34 JST, August 24, 2023

LONDON — Two British scientists said Wednesday that there was no safety problem with the ocean discharge of treated water stored on the premises of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, speaking in an online press conference held by a British science group Science Media Centre.

University of Portsmouth Prof. Jim Smith said the level of tritium, which he described as “a radioactive form of hydrogen,” in the treated water released from the Fukushima plant is lower than that in water discharged from nuclear power plants in such other countries as China, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Smith, who has been studying radiation in the environment for more than 30 years, said, “I don’t know any scientists in the U.K. are against it [Japan’s treated water release].”

Despite China’s moves against Japanese seafood, Smith said there was “no scientific reason why you shouldn’t eat seafood from the coast of Japan.”

　Retired Imperial College London Prof. Geraldine Thomas also said, “There is no reason not to eat, or drink, or anything, from that region of Japan whatsoever.”