Japan started discharging treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. According to The Washington Post, the move comes amid fierce opposition from neighboring countries and after a two-year review by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which found Japan’s plan meets international safety standards.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, analysis and commentary on the release of the treated wastewater, including geopolitical implications, regulatory processes and public perceptions of environmental issues, like nuclear material.
Nina Kelsey is an associate professor of public policy and international affairs. Her areas of expertise include international environmental negotiations; international environmental politics and policy; renewable energy policy; political economy of energy and the environment. Kelsey can speak to putting this in the broader context of geopolitical implications, how people think about environmental problems like this globally, especially when they cross national boundaries, and norms and politics around nuclear waste and marine pollution. She can also discuss how this kind of policy move fits into the global political debates about nuclear power and its role in future lower-carbon energy systems; how this connects to Japan's history with marine pollution events (e.g. the mercury pollution in Minamata); or the tensions between what the science says about nuclear materials and how people tend to perceive them.
Emily Hammond is the Glen Earl Weston Research Professor at the George Washington University Law School. Professor Hammond is a nationally recognized expert in energy law, environmental law, and administrative law. Additionally, they are one of the leading legal academics on civilian nuclear power, and have experience with legal issues involved in water treatment, including treating radioactive water. Their scholarship focuses on regulatory processes, the responses of various legal institutions to scientific uncertainty and the law of water quality.
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