Koji Okamoto

Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo

Dr Koji Okamoto is Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. He received his doctorate in engineering from the University of Tokyo and specialises in nuclear engineering and information visualisation.

Tanks of decontaminated tritiated water are seen within the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority is debating whether to dump into the sea water which has been decontaminated but still contains tritium. (SPH Media)

Japanese academic: A hard look at the true impact of Fukushima Daiichi water release

Amid protests by Japan's neighbours, China and South Korea, as well as by environmentalists about Japan's impending release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japanese academic Koji Okamoto explains that the radioactive substance “tritrium” present in the treated water to be released is naturally present in the environment. In fact, the release of the treated water is of negligible impact compared to the originally present tritium or tritium being released in currently operational nuclear power plants around the world.