TOKYO, Jun 24 (NNN-NHK) – Despite ongoing opposition from both home and abroad, Japan has been rushing to carry out its plan of dumping radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, raising growing anger and stoking real-life Godzilla fears among the global community.
Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO), the plant’s operator, began trialing the equipment for discharging the nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific on Jun 12. The test run of the discharge facility is expected to finish on Jun 26. The nuclear wastewater release, led by the Japanese government, seems to have entered the countdown.
While the radioactive, 50-metre-tall Godzilla depicted in one of the highest-grossing films may be fictional, symbolising the consequences of underwater nuclear tests, the Japanese government’s reckless discharging, likewise disastrous, is evoking fears that the allegory of humankind’s wrongdoings will come true.
“Nuclear-contaminated water must not be discharged into the sea. It is a crime, a crime against all living things on earth!” shouted Tatsuko Okawara, outside the Fukushima Prefectural Government Office, where a mass rally was held last week, to voice strong opposition to the Japanese government’s wastewater dumping move.
“The mountains and rivers will never return to the past, and the radiation will not disappear easily. But this country puts making money first compared to life and love,” the Fukushima resident from Tamura city, recited a line from a puppet show she created, unveiling the hidden truth behind the government’s relentless push.– NNN-NHK
