How Does Nuclear Wastewater Discharge Affect Fishery and Marine Environment: A Case Study of Japan

Abstract

With the increasing use of nuclear energy, human lives have benefited from a variety of aspects since nuclear energy can produce carbon-free electricity. Nevertheless, governments must be cautious about the waste nuclear energy produces for it’s extremely harmful to the environment and has detrimental impacts on human health. Since the nuclear water at the Fukushima plant was released in the following years after 2011, both Japan and its neighboring countries were seriously affected. Some other coastal areas also have varying degrees of pollution depending on the ocean current. The extent of the impact of nuclear wastewater namely the affected areas and the diffusion of elements in nuclear wastewater will be shown in the paper. Additionally, this paper will analyze and elaborate on how nuclear wastewater can affect the marine environment due to the structure of the marine environment and the properties of nuclear wastewater. Lastly, the impact of nuclear wastewater on the fishery in Japan and neighboring countries will be discussed by showing data from relevant research papers. This paper will focus on the impact of nuclear wastewater on the marine environment and the vicinity fishing industry.