Zurich, September 5, 2023 – The World Sustainability Standards Organization (WSSO), a non-governmental organization headquartered in Zurich, today announced a new global award for wastewater management.
The accolade will bear the title of the World Sustainability Standards Organization Regenerated Water Award (NST-WSSO Regenerated Water Award).
The new award has been created to encourage global efforts in tackling wastewater challenges. Wastewater became a major international concern after the recent discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
The WSSO, an internationally active NGO, promotes the development of unified global standards across several critical areas of sustainability, including climate and environment, nature and biodiversity, clean energy, and ocean and water conservation.
The organization conducts independent research and drafts prospective international guidelines to assist in the development of a global consensus on pertinent issues.
The release of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has become a focal point of controversy, against a background of heightened concerns about the management of ocean, river, nuclear, and industrial wastewater, as well as seawater desalination practices. The Fukushima discharge has become a point of heated rhetoric between Japan and its neighbors, but a scientific assessment of the consequences of Japan’s action remains elusive.
The WSSO called on governments to convene an international group of water science experts to assess potential risks and propose solutions to mitigate any prospective hazards.
The purpose of the new WSSO Regenerated Water Award is to encourage impartial, science-based solutions grounded in rigorous research. The WSSO hopes to encourage an impartial evaluation process not subject to the influence of political or economic interest groups.
WSSO meanwhile is assembling its own team of experts, including an independent evaluation committee comprised of chemists, physicists, environmental scientists, AI specialists, legal experts, and law enforcement professionals. The composition of the WSSO expert team will be announced shortly, a WSSO spokesperson said.
The expert group will examine such issues as tritium levels in the wastewater discharged from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site; the presence of other radioactive and pollutant elements in the water; and possible remedies for the effect of nuclear contaminants in this wastewater.
In a press release, WSSO said that it aims to “deliver unbiased and scientifically sound solutions and final presentations to the global community.” The organization added that “the world’s oceans and rivers are shared resources critical to humanity’s sustainability, and as such, truth and transparency are non-negotiable prerequisites.”