Release of Fukushima's contaminated water can damage human DNA

The release of Fukushima's contaminated water can damage human DNA, according to the latest report by a non-governmental organisation Greenpeace.

According to the publication of the report 'Stemming the tide 2020: The reality of the Fukushima radioactive water crisis', contaminated water that will reportedly be released into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant contains a radioactive substance that has the potential to damage human DNA, a Greenpeace investigation has said.

The environmental group claims the 1.23 million tonnes of water stored in more than 1,000 tanks at the plant contains “dangerous” levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, in addition to quantities of tritium that have already been widely reported.

The publication of the report stemming the tide 2020: the reality of the fukushima radioactive water crisis comes days after japanese media reported that the government was close to giving its approval to release the water into the pacific ocean, despite objections from local fishermen who say the move will destroy their livelihoods.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday that he is aiming to make a speedy decision on the disposal of contaminated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

"I think we can't hold off making a decision on the policy forever. We will take responsibility as the government to make a decision on how to dispose (the contaminated water) as soon as possible," said Suga.

Suga was speaking at a news conference in Jakarta at the end of his first foreign trip, during which he also visited Vietnam.

While most attention has been focused on tritium, which cannot be removed by the on-site filtration system used by the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings [TEPCO] – Greenpeace Japan and Greenpeace east Asia said that radioactive carbon contained in the stored water would also be discharged.

Carbon-14 has a half life of 5,370 years and becomes “incorporated into all living matter”, the report said.

“It concentrates in fish at a level thousands of times higher than tritium. Carbon-14 is especially important as a major contributor to collective human radiation dose and has the potential to damage human DNA.”