Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

PL EN


2019 | 37 | 47-59

Article title

Enforcement and sanctioning system deficit under UNCLOS? A closer look at the Fukushima accident

Authors

Content

Title variants

Languages of publication

Abstracts

EN
The marine pollution is rarely debated from the perspective of land-based sources of pollution under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This article centres not only on a land-based source of pollution of the sea, but also a very particular one – the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. Apart from causing severe infrastructural damage and posing a radiation-related threat to the public, Fukushima has had a lasting impact on the marine environment, too. Especially, since the operator of the plant has so far been unsuccessful in completely eliminating the radioactive leakage into the seas. This article considers the actual impact of the accident on the marine life along with the relevant recovery and remediation measures aimed to limit said impact, all in the light of the provisions of UNCLOS. Especially, with regard to its problematic (rather underdeveloped) enforcement and sanctioning system which should be more balanced, considering the various contemporary sources of pollution of the seas. Notwithstanding, UNCLOS will most likely further strengthen international cooperation with the ultimate aim of preventing the pollution of the world’s oceans.

Year

Issue

37

Pages

47-59

Physical description

Dates

published
2019

Contributors

  • Uniwersytet Gdański

References

  • UNCLOS, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, signed in Montego Bay. Consolidated version retrieved from: http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_ agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm [accessed: 1 March 2019].
  • Carpenter, A. (2011). International Protection of the Marine Environment. [In:] The Marine Environment. A. D. Nemeth (Ed), pp. 51–86.
  • Ciechanowicz-McLean, J. (2010). Ochrona zasobów przyrodniczych morza. [In:] Wybrane problemy prawa ochrony środowiska. M. Pchałek, B. Rakoczy (Eds), pp. 101–125.
  • IRSN (2016). Situation of the contamination of the marine environment in 2015, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûréte Nucléaire, March 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.irsn.fr/EN/publications/thematic-safety/ fukushima/fukushima-2016/Documents/22‑IRSN_Fukushima-2016_Environment-Marine-Contamination_201603.pdf [accessed: 7 Jan 2019].
  • König, D. (2002). The Enforcement of the International Law of the Sea by Coastal and Port States. Heidelberg Journal of International Law, Vol. 62, International Law Enforcement and Dispute Settlement – Recent Developments and the Law of the Sea, International Symposium organized on the occasion of the sixtieth birthday of Rüdiger Wolfrum at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, 14 and 15 December 2001, pp. 1–16.
  • NEA & OECD (2016). Nuclear Energy Agency and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Five Years after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident: Nuclear Safety Improvements and Lessons Learnt. NEA No. 7284.
  • UN (1998). The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (A historical perspective). Originally prepared for the International Year of the Ocean 1998, United Nations, Oceans and Law of the Sea: Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Retrieved from: http:// www.un.org/Depts/los/convention [accessed: 11 Jan 2019].
  • Harding, R. (2018). Fukushima nuclear disaster: did the evacuation raise the death toll? The Financial Times, 11 March 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/000f864e-22ba-11e8‑add1-0e8958b189ea [accessed: 15 Nov 2018].
  • ScienceDaily (2016). Impact of the Fukushima accident on marine life, five years later ScienceDaily, 18 October 2016. Retrieved from: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161018141309. htm [accessed: 7 Jan 2019].
  • The Japan Times (2018). Seven years on, radioactive water at Fukushima plant still flowing into ocean, study finds. The Japan Times, 29 March 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.japantimes. co.jp/news/2018/03/29/national/seven-years-radioactive-water-fukushima-plant-still-flowingoceanstudy-finds/#.XAFY5PZFzsZ [accessed: 19 Sept 2018].
  • National Police Agency of Japan (2018). Police Countermeasures and Damage Situation associated with 2011 Tohoku district – off the Pacific Ocean Earthquake September 10, 2018. Emergency Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters, National Police Agency of Japan. Retrieved from: https://www.npa.go.jp/news/other/earthquake2011/pdf/higaijokyo_e.pdf [accessed: 29 Nov 2018].
  • NOAA (2018). Earthquakes and Nuclear Power Plants. U. S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved from: http://sos.noaa.gov/Datasets/ dataset.php?id=469 [accessed: 18 Nov 2018].
  • WNA (Updated: October 2018). Fukushima Daiichi Accident. World Nuclear Association. Retrieved from: http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/ safety-of-plants/fukushima-accident.aspx [accessed: 20 Nov 2018].

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki
20874785

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_33119_JMFS_2019_37_3
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.