Mitigating Pacific rim marine radioactive contamination: A multilateral nuclear monitoring data governance perspective

Marine radioactive pollution originates mainly from nuclear accidents combined with the dumping of radioactive waste. The dualistic nature of nuclear energy—combining economic potential with inherent risks—has been underscored by Japan's controversial Fukushima wastewater discharge initiative. Currently, nuclides simulation modeling and radioactive monitoring research indicate that Japan's discharge of Fukushima radioactive wastewater has led to a sharp increase in tritium (3H) concentrations in North and West Pacific Transition Zones with ocean currents in short term, resulting in radioactive accumulation in marine organisms. Rather than focusing on the traditional issues of marine pollution liability and transboundary compensation, this article highlights the low transparency of monitoring data in the governance of marine radioactive pollution. This article employs doctrinal research method concludes the marine pollution legal governance system encompassing the international conventions and regional legal instruments. Drawing the results that the legal governance framework for marine pollution faces challenges in terms of Non-State Actors Participation, legal binding enforcement, and radiative pollution monitoring transparency. Consequently，the article emphasizes the perspective of Pacific Rim multilateral cooperation on nuclear monitoring data. Nuclear monitoring data bears a critical nexus with marine radioactive pollution surveillance and governance, serving as the evidentiary foundation for source attribution and impact assessment. On this basis，Proposing legal-technical multilateral radioactive pollution monitoring cooperation mechanism, structured around four critical dimensions: legal supervision framework for nuclear monitoring data transparency, hierarchical risk assessment and conditional sharing regimes, institutionalize non-state actor participation, advanced nuclear pollution monitoring technologies. • Japans discharge of radioactive wastewater has led to a rapid increase in tritium(3H) concentrations in the Pacific Rim marine. • Focus on the challenges of monitoring cooperation in marine pollution governance. • Propose the legal-technical regional multilateral nuclear monitoring data cooperation mechanism.