BFEM FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST TEPCO

[Anchor Lead]

The Busan Federation for Environmental Movement filed a lawsuit against the Tokyo Electric Power Holdings, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, in the wake of the Japanese government’s decision to release radioactive water into the sea. This is the first legal action taken to block Japan’s decision to dump radioactive water.

[Pkg]

[Soundbite] "Retract! Retract!"

The Busan Federation for Environmental Movement filed a lawsuit with the Busan District Court to stop the dumping of radioactive water from the Japanese nuclear power plant. The lawsuit was filed against the Tokyo Electric Power Holdings, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant. This is the first lawsuit filed in Korea after the Japanese government decided to release the treated radioactive water into the ocean. The Busan environmental group cited the current law that prohibits a party from causing suffering to neighbors’ lives as grounds for the suit. Since cesium and strontium are known carcinogens that can harm the human body even if they are diluted, the Korean plaintiff argued that the release of contaminated water from Japan could undermine the health of the Korean people.

[Soundbite] Song Yeong-gyeong(Busan Federation of Environmental Movement) : "Even if the water is diluted and released slowly over 20 to 30 years, sea creatures could drink the water and the radioactive substances could concentrate farther up the food chain to ultimately harm human health."

The plaintiff’s legal team expects the court to make a first-round ruling before 2023 when Japan plans to begin the radioactive water release.

[Soundbite] Byun Yeong-cheol(Head Attorney, Law Firm Minsim) : "It’s meaningful to have the Korean court make a ruling on Korea’s sovereignty. We filed the suit quickly to get a decision to ban the radioactive water dump as soon as possible."

The Korean plaintiff plans to ask for financial compensation if Japan decides to go ahead with the water dump while the legal proceedings are underway. The lawsuit was filed as various Korean groups waged stronger protests against the Japanese government’s decision, but it remains unclear whether any legal grounds could be established to actually stop the release of the radioactive water.