Environmental and health effects of nuclear wastewater —Something beyond Fukushima nuclear wastewater discharge / 中国辐射卫生

ABSTRACT

In April 2021, the Japanese government decided to discharge nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, which aroused widespread concern all over the world. The radioactive substances in nuclear wastewater may affect the environment through the action of ocean circulation, groundwater or carbon cycle. In addition, it may expose people to the health effects of low-dose but long-term pollution once nuclear wastewater is discharged into the sea. Based on this, this paper discusses the possible global environmental impact of nuclear wastewater from a general perspective and illustrates its possible health effects as well as potential mental health problems from an individual perspective, and puts forward some suggestions on the issue of Fukushima nuclear wastewater discharge.