Economical Effect on Nations Relating to the Fukushima Discharge

   Recently, the Japanese government announced that nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant would be discharged to the ocean. The discharge could possibly add on to the consequences of the explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on March 11, 2011. At this time, the damage inflicted to Japan was unimaginably high, especially to the economy. Therefore, many experts speculate that the recent discharge will definitely harm Japan and its neighboring countries’ economies through restrictions on trading marine and agricultural products.

   Many nations, including South Korea, are somewhat reluctant to the Japanese government’s decision, as it is evident that the markets based on marine products would be seriously damaged. Although Japan has alleged that the wastewater is no longer noxious and many people ostensibly agree with the argument. Even if Japan is talking facts, it is inevitable for the citizens to be reluctant towards consuming foods from the region. The neighboring countries like China and Korea who share the ocean are affected the most. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute on 661 consumers from the Agricultural Observation Center's consumer panel from October 18 to 20, 2013, 521 consumers said they reduced their consumption of seafood after media reports about the leak of radioactive contaminated water in Fukushima in 2013, which accounted for 77.5%. Additionally, consumers who reduced their consumption of seafood decreased their consumption by an average of 48.9% compared to before the report. The Korean sentiment on this issue also supports this finding: according to the Korean Gallup Report, about 78% among 1007 people over the age of 18 said they are worried about the Fukushima discharge, which is the addition of 62% being very worried and 16% being quite worried. As stated, people are very reluctant to buy these products. Although the short term effect might not be devastating (Xianhua Wu et all), it is most likely that the whole world’s economy is harmed by the discharge of 1.25 million tons of nuclear wastewater.