Eleven years ago, an earthquake and tsunami caused a nuclear meltdown at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima reactor complex in Japan. Today, the fallout continues.
Tanks at the Fukushima nuclear station are now holding about 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive contaminated water, enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The tanks are swollen and the Japanese government is pushing to dump this contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.
Our oceans are not dumping grounds. They are vital life systems we all rely on. The solution is for countries like Japan and Australia to develop secure, long-term storage solutions that keep communities and nature safe from all radioactive waste.
Let's help protect the Pacific Ocean. Forward the letter to Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne, urging her to ask Japan: do not dump radioactive contaminated water into the Pacific.
Communities who depend on the Pacific Ocean are strongly opposing it. Communities in China, South Korea, the Pacific Islands and coastal Japanese communities do not want this.
Like our Pacific neighbours, we in Australia also rely on the Pacific Ocean. It provides a lot of the oxygen we breathe. It supports an abundance of life. Our biggest cities are built next to it, we swim and surf in it and dream next to it.
We must protect the Pacific Ocean, and we must not gamble with nuclear and all the risks it comes with.
Header: Terra Raponi