PNG opposes dumping of nuclear waste

By ROSELYN ELLISON
THE Government, through the Fisheries Ministry, has opposed the discharge of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
This call was made by Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Jelta Wong.
Wong called on the Japanese government to cancel plans to dump more than one million tonnes of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from the disabled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Wong said the risks to the lives of Pacific Islanders and to the health of consumers of fish and other marine products around the world were too high so the discharge of the nuclear wastewater must not go ahead.
Wong said following consultation with other Pacific island countries they could not accept the release of nuclear fission products that would spread around our seas.
He said there was little doubt that this nuclear wastewater would find its way into ecosystems and food chains contaminating people and also harming the Pacific fisheries industries.
Wong said if nuclear waste was discharged, it would cause harm to the people for decades to come.
“Japan knows better than most countries the harm caused to human health by residual radioactive material that continues to kill Japanese people,” he said.