Addressing Japan’s disposal of nuclear-contaminated water from the perspective of international human rights law

The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water containing radionuclides into the ocean by Japan will lead to its integration into the entire ecosystem through processes of circulation and biomagnification,eventually entering the human body via the food chain.This poses a substantial risk of irreversible damage to both the ecosystem and human health,a situation that will worsen with the ongoing discharge of such water.The respect and protection of human rights represent an international consensus,and safeguarding fundamental human rights is a substantial obligation that states must undertake in accordance with both international and domestic law.Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster,Japan has continuously violated its international legal obligations to protect human rights in several areas,including the resettlement of disaster victims,the reduction of nuclear radiation levels,and the handling of contaminated water.Such actions have compromised and will continue to compromise the basic human rights of not only its citizens but also those of people worldwide,including environmental rights,the right to life,development rights,and food rights.In the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdown,the public and workers involved in handling nuclear contaminants have been continually exposed to high radiation levels,endangering their rights to life,development,and health.Japan’s inadequate efforts in victim resettlement and environmental restoration have jeopardized the environmental and food rights of its citizens to live healthily and access food in an environment unaffected by nuclear radiation.The release of nuclear-contaminated water poses a risk of Japan’s nuclear pollution to the people of neighboring countries and the global population at large.The principle of human rights underpins the theory of a community with a shared future for humanity,and human rights are a crucial area of China’s active participation in United Nations affairs and global governance.By voicing concerns over Japan’s potential human rights violations globally,China demonstrates its role as a responsible major country.In response to Japan’s breach of legal obligations and human rights violations,China can adopt a reasoned and beneficial approach,including calling on the international community to hold Japan criminally accountable for crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute and advancing scholarly discussions on ecocide and crimes against the marine environment.Furthermore,China should persist in seeking advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice and strive for substantive accountability,utilizing the mechanisms of international human rights organizations to make its voice heard.

Development and application of a two-dimensional water quality model for the Daqinghe River Mouth of the Dianchi Lake

Water quality models are important tools to support the optimization of aquatic ecosystem rehabilitation programs and assess their efficiency. Basing on the flow conditions of the Daqinghe River Mouth of the Dianchi Lake, China, a two-dimensional water quality model was developed in the research. The hydrodynamics module was numerically solved by the alternating direction iteration （ADI） method. The parameters of the water quality module were obtained through the in situ experiments and the laboratory analyses that were conducted from 2006 to 2007. The model was calibrated and verified by the observation data in 2007. Among the four modelled key variables, i.e., water level, COD （in CODcr）, NH4＋-N and PO43-P the minimum value of the coefficient of determination （COD） was 0.69, indicating the model performed reasonably well. The developed model was then applied to simulate the water quality changes at a downstream cross-section assuming that the designed restoration programs were implemented. According to the simulated results, the restoration programs could cut down the loads of COD and PO43-P about 15%. Such a load reduction, unfortunately, would have very little effect on the NH4^＋-N removal. Moreover, the water quality at the outlet cross-section would be still in class V （3838-02）, indicating more measures should be taken to further reduce the loads. The study demonstrated the capability of water quality models to support aquatic ecosystem restorations.

An ultrathin two-dimensional iridium-based perovskite oxide electrocatalyst with highly efficient{001}facets for acidic water oxidation

The oxygen evolution reaction(OER)is an electrochemical bottleneck half-reaction in some important energy conversion systems(e.g.,water splitting),which is traditionally mediated by iridium oxides in acidic environment.Perovskite-structured Ir-containing oxides(e.g.,SrIrO_(3))are a family of striking electrocatalysts due to their high specific activity,but this excellent quality is difficultly transferred to a nano-electrocatalyst with large active surface and good structural stability.Here,we present a synthesis method that produces a 2D ultrathin{001}-faceted SrIrO_(3)perovskite(2D-SIO)with a thickness of∼5 nm and high surface area(57.6 m^(2)g^(−1)).We show that 2D-SIO can serve as a highly active and stable electrocatalytic nanomaterial for OER under acidic conditions.This perovskite nanomaterial produces 10 mA cm^(−2)current density at a low overpotential(η,243 mV),and maintains its catalytic activity after 5000 continuous cyclic measurements.Besides ultrathin structure and large surface area,the exposed{001}facets are found to be the most crucial and unique structural factor for achieving high catalytic activity and structural stability.Our joint experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that these advantageous microstructural features of 2D-SIO endow it with a strong capability to generate the key O^(*)intermediates,and thereby facilitate O–O bond formation and the OER.

The Application of Remote Sensing Monitoring Method and Groundwater Model for Water Rights Management in Haihe River basin

Groundwater is an important water resource in Haihe River basin,North China.The number of aquifers that appear to be declining under conditions of groundwater overdraft is increasing.To effectively manage the water resources,there is a strong scientific need to analyze the net use of this important water resource and to quantify the water rights allocation for improved understanding of the future water

Optioning Water Rights:A Potential Alternative to the Hanjiang-Weihe River Water Transfer Project,China

China has started shifting from relying on supply management to demand management strategy in addressing its water shortage problems.Water option,a financial derivative for water commodity,has been utilized to manage water demands in the United States and Europe since the 1990 s but is still novel to China.In this study we analyzed the pros and cons of China’s existing system for water rights transfers and proposed an alternative,flexible trading instrument-water options for China.Incorporating the uncertainty to water option pricing,this study first conducted an empirical analysis of the water option in the water-receiving area of the Hanjiang-Weihe River Transfer Project of China,and then evaluated the benefits of the water option applications.Results show that water option trading can bring water cost saving and increase the potential industrially added value for industrial enterprises in the receiving area,and trading of short-and-medium term water options is more favorable than the long-term water options trading.The novel water option trading proposed in this study,once verified through pilot studies,will be helpful in addressing water shortage problems in China.

Numerical simulation for the two-dimensional nonlinear shallow water waves

This study deals with the general numerical model to simulate the two-dimensional tidal flow, flooding wave (long wave) and shallow water waves (short wave). The foundational model is based on nonlinear Boussinesq equations. Numerical method for modelling the short waves is investigated in detail. The forces, such as Coriolis forces, wind stress, atmosphere and bottom friction, are considered. A two-dimensional implicit difference scheme of Boussinesq equations is proposed. The low-reflection outflow open boundary is suggested. By means of this model,both velocity fields of circulation current in a channel with step expansion and the wave diffraction behind a semi-infinite breakwater are computed, and the results are satisfactory.

Study on the Definition and Allocation of the Rights to Water Utilization in the Ecological Environment

With the rapid development of population and economy, the conflict between the supply and demand of waterresources is becoming outstanding increasingly. In China, many people concern about the problems of ecological environmentwater expenditure. However, owning to the shortage of water resources and indefinite water rights, "the hustle effect" of percapita water resource is appeared. Moreover, it caused a series of environment problems. This article differentiates andanalyzes the relevant concepts about the ecological environment, and puts forward the defined concept of the rights to theecological environment water utilization. In addition, it points out the characteristic of those rights, and does elementary studyon the allocation principle, methods, and steps on the rights.

Defect and Innovation of Water Rights System

The rare deposition of water resources conflicts with its limitless demand.This determined the existence of the water fights transaction system.The implementation of the water fights transaction system requires clarifying the definition of water re- source right above all distinctly.At present,it is a kind of common right system arrangement which needs the Chinese government to dispose of water resources.Though a series of management sys- tems guaranteed the government's supply of water resource,it hindered the development of the water market seriously and caused the utilization of water resources to stay in the inefficient or low efficient state for a long time.Thus,we should change the government's leading role in the resource distribution and really rely on the market to carry on the water fights trade and transac- tion.In this way,the water rights could become a kind of private property fight relatively,and circulate freely in the market.As a result of this,we should overcome the defects of common fight, make its external performance internalized maximally and achieve the optimized water resource disposition and use it more effec- tively.

Rebuilding water rights system from the perspective of usufruct

As the source of life,water is indispensable to human beings.Being aware of the water stress imposed by population growth,climate change,rapid urbanization,pollution,many scholars and decision makers argue that the establishment of water rights and their system is the primary measure to tackle the water crisis problem.However,no consensus has been reached regarding the definition,nature and content of water rights both practically and academically.By examining the existing theories regarding water rights,this article tries to redefine the entitlements from the aspect of civil law.Meanwhile,it provides a system which classifies various rights by the four functions of usufruct.

A study of benef its compensation mechanism for agricultural water rights trading under the restriction of ecological reconstruction:a case study of Shiyang River basin

Agricultural water allocation system based on priority rights has caused regional conflicts and down-stream ecological degradation.It is the urgent need to introduce the concept of the initial water rights and estab-lish benefi ts compensation mechanism to resolve such problems.This paper takes the Shiyang River basin as an example to calculate the opportunity cost of 0.97×108 m3 of agricultural water encroached by the middle reach based on initial water right allocation system under which water is allocated in accordance with the ratio between agricultural population of two different regions concerning the downstream ecological reconstruction needs with Bio-economic model(BEM).The results suggest that the total economic loss of Minqin County for ecological reconstruction amounts to 2.57×108 yuan,of which 1.68×108 yuan is ecological compensation,representing the economic loss Minqin suffered for ecological reconstruction which should burden benefi cial groups of ecological reconstruction and 0.89×108 yuan is the economic loss Minqin suffered due to Liangzhou's encroachment behavior which should be compensated by Liangzhou.

Performance assessment of two-dimensional hydraulic models for generation of flood inundation maps in mountain river basins

Hydraulic models for the generation of flood inundation maps are not commonly applied in mountain river basins because of the difficulty in modeling the hydraulic behavior and the complex topography. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the performance of four twodimensional hydraulic models (HEC-RAS 2D, Iber 2D, Flood Modeller 2D, and PCSWMM 2D) with respect to the generation of flood inundation maps. The study area covers a 5-km reach of the Santa B-arbara River located in the Ecuadorian Andes, at 2330 masl, in Gualaceo. The model's performance was evaluated based on the water surface elevation and flood extent, in terms of the mean absolute difference and measure of fit. The analysis revealed that, for a given case, Iber 2D has the best performance in simulating the water level and inundation for flood events with 20- and 50-year return periods, respectively, followed by Flood Modeller 2D, HEC-RAS 2D, and PCSWMM 2D in terms of their performance. Grid resolution, the way in which hydraulic structures are mimicked, the model code, and the default value of the parameters are considered the main sources of prediction uncertainty.

Right recumbent position on gastric emptying of water evidenced by ^(13)C breath testing

AIM:To compare the impact of the right recumbent position with the sitting position on gastric emptying of water. METHODS:In eight healthy male volunteers,the 13C acetate breath test was performed twice to assess gastric emptying of 100 mL tap water.Subjects were seated in one test and lying on their right side in the other.In both positions,pulmonary 13CO2 exhalation curves were obtained by plotting breath data against time.Percent gastric retention curves were created by analyzing data using the Wagner-Nelson protocol. RESULTS:No significant posture effect was found in pulmonary 13CO2 output curves(P=0.2150),whereas a significant effect was seen in gastric retention curves (P=0.0315).The percent retention values at 10 min and 15 min were significantly smaller when subjects were in the right recumbent position compared with the seated position(P<0.05).Our results verified the accelerating effect of the right recumbent position on gastric emptying of non-nutritive solutions.Concerning clinical implications,this study suggests that placing patients with acute pain on their right side after oral administration of analgesic drugs in solution is justified as an effective practice for rapid pain relief.For patients with gastrointestinal reflux symptoms,sleeping in the right recumbent position may reduce nocturnal symptoms,as delayed gastric emptying can cause reflux symptoms. CONCLUSION:Gastric emptying of water occurs more quickly when a subject lies on the right side compared with sitting.

Analysis and Discussion on Property Right of Rural Drinking Water Projects

Since rural drinking water projects have diversified investment subjects,complex form,and lacks property right system and policy at national level,there are many difficulties in determining property right of projects in many areas.This not only puzzles competent authorities and specific management institution,but also is unfavorable for long-term full play of project benefit.Combining related laws,regulations,and policies,this paper analyzed and discussed property right of rural drinking water projects.It proposed establishing usufructuary right to replace division of property right,in the hope of helping improve management of rural drinking water projects.

On the Duty of the Government to Safeguard the Right to Water

The right to water is an emerging sort of human rights aiming to protect the right to water indispensable for the survival and development of individuals. From the perspective of International Human Rights Law, the paper analyzes the standards stipulating the international obligations to safeguard the right to water, inspects the state quo of the protection of the right to water in China and demonstrates the lawful suggestions to safeguard the right to water.

我国用水权交易现状与制度构建

为促进《关于推进用水权改革的指导意见》提出的于2035年全面建立归属清晰、权责明确、流转顺畅、监管有效的用水权制度体系的工作目标,针对我国用水权交易仍存在初始分配制度不健全、交易定价机制不完备、用水监测计量与监管尚需加强的现状,分析了现行用水权交易制度存在的问题,在明确用水权交易内涵的基础上,提出用水权交易制度的构建应当利用哈贝马斯的商谈理论指导用水权初始分配,兼顾经济利益与生态利益构建标准多元、基准有别的定价机制,建立巡查与抽查制度完善的用水监测计量与监管的具体制度设计。

农业水权交易发展影响因素分析——基于宏观、中观、微观视角

我国现阶段农业水权交易分散且规模较小,农业水权交易市场活跃度不高。随着水资源供需矛盾的日益紧张,需要激发市场在水资源配置中的决定性作用,进一步为农业水权创造更大的交易空间。农业水权涉及多层级管理制度,却少有从全局到细节不同维度分析农业水权交易发展影响因素的研究,无法具有系统性地推动农业水权交易发展。为此,本文将影响农业水权交易发展的关键因素划分为宏观社会经济、中观市场主体及相互关系和微观交易要素三个维度,定性分析不同维度各因素指标的实质属性以及对农业水权交易发展的影响效果,找准农业水权交易发展的宏观支撑,明确农业水权交易市场的发展思路,进而聚焦到微观交易要素在水权交易过程中的作用,从三个维度分别提出加大农业水权交易政策和多途径推进农村水系连通的建设力度、明确政企角色定位、鼓励农业水权交易与土地实现同步流转等活跃农业水权交易市场的建议,以期为完善农业水权交易市场提供建设基础和思路。

关于超计划(定额)累进加价与用水权交易制度竞合的初步思考

超计划(定额)累进加价制度已实行多年,对于强化节约用水管理发挥了重要作用。近年来,随着用水权改革的深入推进,两项制度在对公共供水管网内非居民用水户新增用水需求的管理上形成了竞合。文章基于对用水权权利范围边界的界定,提出了超计划(定额)累进加价与用水权交易制度竞合的破解思路,并从持续深化用水权改革实践探索、深化理论研究方面提出了对策建议。

关于水价、水权、水资源税费改革协同发力的思考

运用系统思维,深化水价形成机制、水权及水资源税改革,促进协同发力,是当前和今后一个时期深化水利改革的重点任务。文章在总结改革进展、分析新形势新要求的基础上,对水价、水权、水资源税费的基本属性、改革目的、重点内容进行理论解析,分析了三者间的耦合关系,提出了水价、水权、水资源税费改革协同发力的总体考虑和相关建议。

论闲置水权收储的法律性质

为规范落实最严格水资源管理制度,界定因散见各地方水权规范性文件而缺乏明确边界的闲置水权收储行为的法律性质,将闲置水权收储的特点与常见行政行为,包括行政许可撤回、行政征收、行政处罚与行政协议解除的特点进行比较分析。提出基于闲置水权收储规范存在缺少信赖利益、补偿条款、负面评价与协议形式的特性,导致闲置水权程序无法归类于现有行政行为体系之中。指出应分别针对财产权社会性义务与行政协议解除的方向进行调整,在减轻其行政限制程度之余,明确闲置水权收储应作为终局手段,在其他催告手段穷尽之后再行实施。