Is Japan Making a HUGE Mistake With The Nuclear Waste?

Japan is going to be releasing a million tons of nuclear wastewater into the ocean for the next 30 years and a lot of people aren't happy about it. Yeah, we got to talk about it. This is going super viral in the West as well as the East, especially in the East. Andrew, if you have older Asian relatives, they're probably talking about this right now. Long story short, there was a terrible Fukushima earthquake in 2011. It created a bunch of nuclear core wastewater. This is different than regular nuclear wastewater. This is like nuclear core melted into wastewater. Obviously, Japan had been treating it for the last, like, you know, decade plus. And now they feel like they're out of space, so they got to release it into the water. The U.S., the U.N. gave them the OK, but South Korea and China, they do not like it. And this is sparking a ton of comments and really a ton of sentiments, both on a scientific level, geopolitical level and historical level all across the Internet. Oh, yeah, man. Protests in China, a little bit of harassment going on. People are talking about this because it could affect fishing, everything like that, guys. So hopefully if you guys are not an expert on this issue, which we know we're not either, but we're going to try to shed some light and add some perspective. Please hit that like button. Check out other episodes of the Hot Paw Boys. Real quick, Andrew, like you said, we got to stress something. We are not subject matter experts on nuclear core waste disposal. OK, I don't know what's more dangerous, the tritium levels or is it the B.C. 14? Carbon 14. Yeah, yes. There are a bunch of other stuff that they're not talking about or should we just trust them? Because Japan is U.S.'s most trusted ally in the region. Yeah, I mean, the prime minister of Japan just ate some sashimi from Fukushima to show that the fish was still OK. Was it convincing? We'll run the clip. Andrew, Fumio Kushida right there, he kind of looks like he's choking it down. He's like... Yeah, it was kind of like when Bill Gates was drinking that sludge water that got processed from poop. And then he takes a sip and it's like the smallest sip though. Oh, man. Great. It's going to taste great on Epstein's Island. But of course, Andrew, in South Korea, in China, there's everything from protests to outright bans going on right now. So many comments on the Internet. Andrew, does it just have to do with which countries you like more? Because I'll tell you this, Andrew, nobody really knows the true impact. I don't care who you are. You won't know until 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years later. Yeah, I think the whole disposing of nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean, possibly messing with fishing and the ecosystem and just people's health and animal health, obviously, I think it's a hard thing to convince people of, right? Because even if the science is right and Japan is right and these different agencies are right, that it's not going to affect people that much. Or basically they're saying like it'll affect people, but you don't have any... This is still the best choice on the table. Right. They don't have any options. But even if that's true, just people won't like it because they're just like... But then I also think how can other countries team up to help Japan in this? Because they're running out of storage space for the diluted process nuclear wastewater and they have to start releasing it little by little into the ocean or else they just have nowhere to put it. Right. So let's break this down real quick. Here's my quick thoughts based off my research. You let me know if I'm right, if I'm wrong. If you're super biased for one side or the other, I'm sure you're going to leave a comment too and try to sway the comment section in terms of you know, because everybody's an expert nowadays. There's a scientific angle, right? Did Japan just simply choose the cheapest choice or was it the best choice? Or was it the cheapest and the best choice or was it cheapest and the second best and they did it for cost savings? This is debatable forever, right? You mean the cheapest option for processing the water? Right, right, right. Because there was a bunch. You could have turned it into cement. You could have turned it into hydro steam. But some things took like 50 years. Some things took like 50x the cost. Whatever, whatever, whatever. Which company was in charge? Was there profitability concerns? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Point number two, Andrew. Geopolitical concerns, right? Japan is the only G7 nation in Asia. It once was an enemy of the West, specifically America. Now it's a really good buddy. So people are saying that the US runs the UN. The UN approved Japan. But Japan's been a really loyal member of G7. So maybe that's why it is the way it is, right? Wow. And then there is a historical angle. South Korea and China got decimated in World War II by Imperial Japan. So they don't trust them. Yeah, yeah, you know, I understand that Japan has quite the reputation for doing things properly or doing things at a very high quality level. But I must say, I don't really trust them based off what happened 70 years ago. Yeah, like we have to kind of like go along with it because we also like on Team America. But I don't like it. Also, Andrew, there's a fourth angle. Do other countries such as China, India, and including South Korea or North Korea or whatever, all the other countries in the region, do a bunch of other polluted stuff too, but just not nuclear waste into the water. Right, right, right. Like maybe do they let it go into the air and the air turns into clouds and then it rains down on the ocean and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Anyways, guys, there's a lot of different perspectives and comments. So we're going to go through them. Hopefully, they shed some light on the topic. I'm not sure what the right answer is because I'm not a scientist and I don't really understand nuclear wastewater. But it definitely doesn't sound good. Yeah, and I think that I really want to stress that you don't know what's going to happen either. I don't care if you're a regular tritium, regular nuclear waste scientist. You don't know what's going to happen with this nuclear core water. Now, I think obviously, Andrew, if Japan says they needed to dispose of it, they needed to make a hard choice, right? I don't think anybody thinks it's going to be good because a lot of the Fukushima fishermen, they got to get relocated to the other side of the island. Like, you know what I mean? Like even people in Japan themselves are generally refusing to eat fish from Fukushima right now. So I don't think anybody can argue that this is better than not releasing the water. You can just say, did they make the best choice on the table at the time? Right, the best out of a terrible situation. And also, how much do you believe that obviously this is going to affect Japanese people the most out of everybody, first and foremost, but it probably still will eventually, if it is bad, affect everybody else? So you're saying, is that a good argument though? Because it's almost like me putting poison in my house onto my front lawn and then being like, hey guys, it is my front lawn. If anybody plays in the lawn, it's going to be my children first, right? And then the other people in the cul-de-sac, which is like East Asia, I guess, are like, but my kids play in my front yard too. Right, right. So I don't know, guys. You let us know your thoughts immediately in the comments down below. But yeah, let's get into the comment section. Yeah, somebody says, two years later, we have completed the release. We are truly sorry. 20 years later, this was done by something people in the past. It has nothing to do with this now. We are also victims. 50 years later, radioactive wastewater. What radioactive wastewater? There was no such thing as wastewater in history. This is a commentary on Japan denying past war crimes. And this is kind of saying it's a joke about how they will act in 50 years about this. Yeah, I think that this is a pretty common sentiment in South Korea and China. Yeah, because, you know, that's relatively recent history. You know, everybody remembers it still. Somebody was saying, man, they clearly focused on profit saving. And then other people are like, yeah, why don't they drink the water or use the water internally within their country rather than dumping it? Of course, Japan came in. I'm picking some comments from Japan that defended it. They said that we looked at all five methods. We consulted the IAEA, and we ended up picking the right decision because this was the cheapest and most least impactful decision. And then, of course, a lot of people are saying, oh, my gosh, the Fuqing plant in eastern China in Hangzhou, Suzhou, released way more. And there was a Korean plant that released way more. And that just goes into the air, and the air turns into clouds, and it comes down everywhere. And other people said it's not about the tritium. It's about carbon-14, strontium-20, iodine-129. These things you can't even calculate, and Japan won't let South Korea and China analyze the samples themselves. Andrew, how much of this is just East Asia beef? Man, I think there is some whataboutism about it, and I think it's very common for people to be like, well, look at China. Look at what Korea does. Obviously, is Japan under a little bit more scrutiny because Japan is kind of known as a country? Like, this was such a big disaster. Everybody knew about it. It was global news. And then also, you know, Japan has this reputation of being a good country, doing things correctly, providing all this sashimi and sushi and all this great culture. And then now is it at stake because of the contaminated water? You're saying is the country in the world most famous for eating fish, and especially raw fish, releasing a bunch of radioactive waste into the ocean, causing extra scrutiny and concern? It is true that, like, there might be other plants or other companies or other countries that have released a lot of contaminated water as well, that it didn't become global news. Right. You're saying that because all the information is more transparent in Japan. Right, right, right. Yeah, no, it's possible. It's possible. Somebody said the U.S. and U.N. to China, everything you did is wrong. The U.S. and U.N. to Japan, silence. We didn't see it a double standard. A lot of people were pointing out that basically if another country that was considered against the Anglosphere, like, had done the same thing, it would be viewed 100x worse as somebody that's, like, up in the crowd. Well, wouldn't that be China then? Right, because China's the only country in East Asia that is markedly, I guess, outside of the Anglosphere. I guess the question is if China did a similar thing, then how come it's not getting more press? Right, it would be demonized. Right. Maybe it's because Japan, we are known to be the good boy and the nice, you know, American partner. Right. Japan, you used to be bad, but ever since we did some stuff to you, you've been good, so you earned the most trusted status amongst us and our buddies. Perhaps. You guys let me know if you think that's the case. I don't know. Andrew, let's just get into the comments section. I want to get out of the science. I actually did a bunch of research for this, but it's just not fun to read, and there's people going back and forth about chemicals that I don't understand. Like I said, somebody says, and folks will still tell you nuclear energy is safe. Anything against natural disasters, nothing is safe against natural disasters. This turned into a huge debate, Andrew, about the safety of nuclear power because nuclear power is considered the cheapest, most efficient way to deliver power, right, versus burning coal and other things like that. However, when it goes downside, it goes the most downside. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I'm not. It's hard for. I'm not going to lie. I don't have an opinion on this one. Yeah, I will say this. If you can get clean nuclear power, I believe it's actually a really, really good thing for the Earth. But like we said, when just stuff happens that nobody predicts, it is so bad. Right, right. Somebody said, why would Japan, a country that thrives on fishing, poison its own waters? This concern doesn't make any sense. This is from an American living in Japan basically saying, yeah, like we have to trust them because if they cause Godzilla or Mothra or Kaijus or whatever Pacific Rim, it's going to hurt them the most first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is, I mean, I think that's the main argument for Japan is like, well, if it is so bad, why would we poison our own people first? Right. But then other people were saying, one, Japan feels like it's disappearing anyway due to population decline. And number two, Japan has a very unique history with nuclear things because it is the only country in the world that had nuclear bombs dropped on it. Interestingly enough, Andrew, by America. Right. So do you think they're like, well, to be honest, America, you were the first one to make us nuclear. So now we are just making everybody else nuclear. Yeah. I mean, this is the argument. Hey, like we said, guys, these are the Internet comments. This Japanese guy says science says is fine. Separate your hate towards Japan from what this actually is. A lot of Japanese people. I've been seeing a lot of Japanese people in all Asian countries are nationalistic, defending themselves. Yeah, I guess we're the biggest haters come up. Obviously, if you're American, you and you think it's bad, then you're partially like, well, we're pretty far from it. Maybe by the time the water gets to us, it'll be diluted. I just won't eat as much sushi. But then China and Korea, China does have more political incentive to hate on Japan. It's true. Right. Because I think South Korea in their hearts, they don't like Japan. But geopolitically, they're aligned with America, which is running Japan. Right. But I also don't think South Korea loves China either. Yeah. So there's a lot of weird triangles going on in terms of love, hate, whatever, how people feel about people from the old days, the new days. The mid days. This guy said no more sushi for me. And then a lot of people had a lot of talk about who is going to get the most radiation. Is it the bottom dwellers like some damn flounder and some lobsters? Or is it going to be tuna? Because it's the top of the food chain because tuna eats the smaller fish and the smaller fish are going to take a higher dose of radiation. Do you think this actually has an effect on the sushi industry right now? I do think so. In some places, for sure. I would imagine that that's the first place you're going to see the most major impact because you're eating fish directly out of the water. Well, but it's true. If you eat mostly farm raised, depending on where those farms are, they're probably pretty far. I know there's tuna farms like in Spain. I know there's like salmon farms and like around the west coast of America. So it's like. Do you think the European like fish mongers are like getting really excited because they're like, oh, we're going to be charging a premium? Oh, you mean like maybe from Scandinavia? Asia, all the prices are going to go up. The fish in Iceland is going to be the best and the safest. Yeah. What do you think about all the jokes about Godzilla and kids getting real tall, but having like four eyes soon? I don't know. I mean, I again, like it's it's going to be diluted in its process, but it's going to be slowly released into the ocean over the next 30 years. Now, obviously, is that better than throwing all of it into the ocean right now and shocking the ocean and not letting it adapt and stuff like that? Yeah, probably. But then also nobody knows because movies and science are just like over 30 years. What? Something's going to with somebody. Some kid is going to get it for now. Maybe Japan understands like there is a cost to this, and there may be thousands of Japanese that are affected, but we have to do it. Right. Who knows? Like we said, there's always pros and cons of everything. But who's being honest about the pros and cons? Who's being honest about what they don't know about the pros and cons as well? Right. Like you said, like it just went just going back and forth. There was like so many comments I read. Somebody said, can you please just compose the comparisons of other countries also releasing the radioactive waste into the water? That'd be great. Proper journalism is present in a bias and needs a full account of the matter. How much of the whataboutism is valid here? I do think, by the way, all nuclear pants release nuclear wastewater with tritium in it, but it's different when it's nuclear core melted water. I don't know, man. I don't know. I think none of it is good. But are we just talking about what's the worst, right? Right. People were bringing it back to World War II, especially a lot of the people from South Korea. They were like, man, this is what happens when a country is powerless geopolitically. I hate this. A lot of people are saying, yeah, we need to reunify South and North Korea so we can be strong and like have our own decisions on things. I thought this comment was funny. They said, man, you know, it's bad when China starts banning the food from Japan. Yeah, this was some pretty funny comments because China is banning a lot of the sushi and fish imports from Japan right now. And that's obviously going to hurt the Japanese economy. And, yeah, you could say that's also a political move to kind of bully Japan. But is it also a real concern, too? Yeah. Somebody from India was like, well, we don't even eat raw fish, so this is not our concern. Well, I mean, eventually, obviously the waters, it's shared by everybody. But, yeah, I mean, it's true. It's probably going to affect people who are eating raw fish the most. Yeah. Is this just a sashimi eater problem? Dang. Is this ultimately going to hurt everybody? I mean, are people only going to have to eat farm-raised stuff? That's a good question, man. Anyway, guys, like we said, there's a million comments that we could just get into. And I think it's always funny, Andrew, when something like this happens. Everybody's an expert. All of a sudden, everybody studied not just nuclear science, Andrew, nuclear waste disposal science and a bunch of methods that nobody even did before. Yeah, well, I don't know. I mean, I guess you guys let me know in the comments down below how you feel about it. And I think really it's like, is it going to affect how you view food from Japan or sushi from Japan from that area? Like, is it going, like, are you worried enough? Now, obviously, the amount of nuclear waste they've released so far is probably not affecting a lot of the fish. Although they did say someone, I don't know if it's super legit, they said they found one fish that had 180 times over the limit of contamination, of radioactive contamination in it. So is that just some foresight into what will happen? Or was that like a fake hoax? I don't know. Yeah, I mean, ultimately, I really think this boils down on a consumer level to which countries do you like the most. And on a geopolitical level, there's a lot of geopolitical alliances. However, I do think there's valid arguments on both sides. It is valid for Japan to say, well, we would be affected the most out of everybody. Because it is true that it is on their side of the Pacific Ocean. Could this create, David, the next, the first generation of superheroes? It always got to do something with radioactive something. I mean, literally, this is like the plot to Gojira. Or like Aquaman. Yeah, I don't know. Or even what was the other guy in Japan that was really the Ultraman? Or more likely, honestly, like a Spider-Man type situation, except with like fish. Yeah, I was looking into a bunch of stuff that I never think about, Andrew. Apparently, there was Chernobyl experiences. And there wasn't any like gigantic earthworms or stuff, but people did get sick. Interesting. All right, everybody, let us know in the comments down below. We're going to wrap it up right there. Again, man, this is like a very complicated situation. I mean, it comes down to science, which a lot of people, we don't know the real science. Are people hiding something? Do you trust Japan, Japan's execution? Do you trust other countries? I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I would say that people would trust Japan more than China when it comes to waste disposal, to be honest. And then, like we said, there's geopolitical alliances. That's a modern thing. And then there's historical beef. All right, everybody, we're going to leave it right there. We are the Hot Pop Boys. And until next time, we out. Peace.