Pacific groups call on Leaders to reconsider diplomatic relations with Japan
Wednesday 8th November, 2023
The Pacific Collective on Nuclear Issues, composed of civil society groups, non-governmentalorganisations and movements in the Pacific, denounces once again the dumping of radioactive
wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear powerplant into the Pacific Ocean as the only
solution available.
The Collective also condemns the Government of Japan and the facility operator, Tokyo ElectricPower Company (TEPCO), for insisting on this flawed and dangerous course of action.
On the 24th August, 2023, the Fumio Kishida Government commenced dumping into Pacificwaters part of the 1.3 million tonnes of Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) radioactive
wastewater it plans to release from its destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant overthe next 30 to 40 years. The second release commenced on the 5th of last month.
This blatant action proceeded despite numerous and repeated objections by Governments andcommunities, environmental groups, NGOs and anti-nuclear movements in Japan and thePacific.
The Collective had earlier expressed deep disappointment in the Japanese Government andTEPCO for their total lack of respect and shameless disregard for Pacific peoples’ opposition tothe dumping operation based on independent scientific advice.
The findings of the independent panel of scientific experts commissioned by the Pacific Islands
Forum were unequivocal - the data provided so far, to support Japan’s claim that the treatedwastewater is safe, is inconsistent, unsound and therefore far from reliable. Moreover, we are
not reassured by the International Atomic Energy Association’s confidence in the safety ofJapan’s proposal as the Agency’s remit is to promote the safe use of nuclear energy. If theJapanese Government and TEPCO believe the radioactive wastewater is safe, they should be
prepared to safely dispose of it within terrestrial Japan.
The Collective also declares that such dumping into the Pacific Ocean is a direct violation of ourhuman rights. It is deeply worrying that Pacific peoples are denied yet again our right to Free,
Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) on an issue that has direct implications on our sea ofislands.
Aside from being a brazen violation of international law, Japan’s behaviour and handling of thismatter is an affront to the very sovereignty of Pacific states and unbecoming of a Dialogue
partner of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
The Collective stands by the Pacific’s long-standing and collective commitment to a nuclear-free
region and condemns Japan’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to fracture the established regional
position of Pacific states on Fukushima and ultimately on defending our nuclear-free Pacific. On
the occasion of the 52nd meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in the Cook Islands, inrespect of the long-standing provisions of the Treaty of Rarotonga for a nuclear-free zone, andin keeping with the spirit of Pacific self-determination that the aforementioned occasion issupposed to celebrate:
We call on our Pacific Leaders to reaffirm, in solidarity, the long-held position of the Pacific tokeep our region nuclear-free, which encompasses opposing all forms of nuclear harm to ourpeople, our earth and our ocean, including from uranium mining, nuclear weapons, nuclear
testing, nuclear waste and the transportation and storage of radioactive materials through ourislands and waterways.
We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the threat that dumping
radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean poses to Pacific peoples, our livelihoods, safety,
health and well-being; essentially our way of life today and the future of our region as a clean,healthy and sustainable environment.
We call on the Government of Japan and TEPCO to renounce immediately the 30 to 40-year
radioactive wastewater dumping operation that commenced in August, 2023 and reconsider thefindings of the PIF panel of scientific experts, which clearly states that there are safer
alternatives to dumping radioactive wastewater into Pacific waters.
We call on our Pacific Leaders to suspend Japan’s status as a PIF dialogue partner, and toreview diplomatic relations at the next Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) in 2024.

Pacific People Call for New Clear Ways!
Attention:
Hon. Prime Minister Mark Brown
Chair
Pacific Islands Forum
Pacific Islands Forum Leaders and Member States

Henry Puna
Secretary General
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
Dr Filimon Manoni
Pacific Ocean Commissioner
Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner

THIS STATEMENT IS ENDORSED BY:Vanuatu Indigenous
Land Defence Desk(VILDD)

Pacific Islands
Climate Action
Network (PICAN)

Pacific Centre for
Peacebuilding (PCP)

Pacific Conference ofChurches (PCC)

Social Empowerment
Education Program(SEEP)MISA4thePacificPacific Network on
Globalisation (PANG)

Fiji Youth SRHR
Alliance

MelanesianIndigenous Land
Defence Alliance(MILDA)

Fiji Council of Social
Services (FCOSS)

Deep Sea Mining
Campaign (DSMC)

Alliance for Future
Generations

Pacific Islands
Association of NGOs
(PIANGO)

Pacficwin Pacific(Pacwin)

Fiji Women’s Crisis
Centre (FWCC)

Youngsolwara Pacific

AustralianAssociation for
Pacific Studies(AAPS)

Nuclear Truth Project

AIDWATCH