While the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ collective statement is very clear in expressing their concerns on Japan’s decision to discharge treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean given the nuclear legacy issues, there is a divergence of views not only at the leaders level but even in their panel of experts.
This has been highlighted by Forum Secretary General, Henry Puna as he says they have hired an independent panel of experts who have been guiding the Forum leaders.
Puna says one of their hired experts has expressed a diverging opinion to the other four.
He says it is not surprising that there is now a divergence of views not just at the political level but also at the scientific level and even at the community level.
He says there is no uniformity of views and there was a protest march which is a democratic right of the people to do and they respect that.
The International Atomic Energy Agency Report last month concluded that Japan's plans to release the 1.3 million tonnes of treated radioactive nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean over the next four decades meets international safety standards.
IAEA also said that the discharges of the treated water would have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment.
