Fukushima, Godzilla and Pandora's Box
Has the IAEA's approval of TEPCO's radioactive wastewater release scheme into the Pacific Ocean opened a Pandora's box of contamination?
“History shows again and again, how nature points out the folly of man” —
”Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult
I reported an article last year on the folly of the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) insane plan to release more than a million tons of “treated” radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. There was widespread objection in the scientific community due to the radioactive isotopes that can’t be treated, yet Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed off on the unprecedented plan anyways. The old dilution is the solution to corporate pollution scheme.
A purported IAEA whistleblower popped up this summer with documents alleging collusion between the IAEA, TEPCO, and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to spin the final report that approved of the plan to downplay the potential dangers. This predictably got very little attention in the mainstream media, who are far too trusting of nuclear regulatory agencies.
I was contacted by an activist who put me in touch with marine radiation expert Tim Deere-Jones, who had written about why he believed the documents were legit and about why the corrupt nuclear industry needed to push this scheme through. I interviewed him, as well as activist Herve Courtois who was the one who received the documents and published them at his 311 Fukushima Watchdogs blog. Then I put together a story for Counterpunch that takes a closer look at the allegations:
DECEMBER 10, 2023
The Radioactive Pacific Ocean
Is The IAEA Hiding Dangers of Releasing Fukushima’s Radioactive Wastewater into the Pacific Ocean?
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/10/the-radioactive-pacific-ocean/
Click the link above to read the story… There seems to be a general consensus in the environmental activism community that the IAEA is more of a handmaiden to the nuclear industry, rather than the firm regulator it should be. But this time, the global food chain is being risked. It’s a sad state of affairs here on Planet Earth the end of 2023.
One of my favorite quotes from the story is the one where China’s Global Times went so far as to voice concern about the Godzilla effect:
“What will be unleashed once the Pandora’s box is open?” the newspaper asked in August. “The answer to this question may become a landmine threatening the ecological environment of the world and the fears of real-life Godzilla among the public worldwide.”
Many casual observers of the Godzilla franchise may not realize that Godzilla’s origin story in the original 1954 film classic was a deep sociopolitical commentary — that “the King of Monsters” was awakened and mutated by humanity’s irresponsible underwater nuclear testing in the aftermath of World War II. The new Godzilla Minus One released here at the end of 2023 (for the 70th anniversary of the franchise) is an instant classic for many reasons. One of these is how the film highlights the origin story early on, as it’s revealed that the 1946 Bikini Atoll nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands were what mutated Godzilla into a gigantic atomic-fire breather. And even though Godzilla destroys several American warships before heading for Japan, the American government can offer no direct assistance due to Cold War tensions with Russia.
This theme of political considerations outweighing practical ones is another insightful commentary that mirrors the cutting edge commentary in 2016’s brilliant Shin Godzilla, which featured a Fukushima-style allegory. In that film, Japan’s authorities are constantly battling bureaucratic red tape in trying to figure out how to deal with Godzilla.
Now we have TEPCO and the nuclear industry colluding to approve of the Fukushima radioactive wastewater release, despite having no real idea of what the ramifications might be to the marine food chain and global ecosystem. And so it goes as mankind’s petty greed and warmongering endangers us all here in this world gone mad…