China brands Japan’s plan to release treated Fukushima water into sea as ‘extremely irresponsible’
Japan’s government has approved a plan to release over one million tonnes of treated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday.
The release is unlikely to begin for at least two years but has already sparked opposition from local fishing communities and concern in Beijing and Seoul.
Japan’s government argues that the release will be safe because the water has been processed to remove almost all radioactive elements and will be diluted.
It has support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which says the release is similar to processes for disposing of waste water from nuclear plants elsewhere in the world.
“The Japanese government has compiled basic policies to release the processed water into the ocean, after ensuring the safety levels of the water… and while the government takes measures to prevent reputational damage,” Mr Suga told reporters.
Around 1.25 million tonnes of water has accumulated at the site of the nuclear plant, which was crippled after going into meltdown following a tsunami in 2011.
It includes water used to cool the plant, as well as rain and groundwater that seeps in daily.
The water is pumped out and filtered, but the decision is certain to spark controversy, angering regional countries and local fishing communities that have spent years trying to restore confidence in seafood from the region.
China said Japan’s plan would be damaging to public health and complained Tokyo had decided to dispose of the nuclear waste water “without regard for domestic and foreign doubts and opposition.”
“This approach is extremely irresponsible and will seriously damage international public health and safety and the vital interests of the people of neighbouring countries,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.
Beijing said the ocean was the “common property of mankind” and the disposal of the nuclear waste water “is not just Japan’s domestic issue.”
“China will continue to closely follow the developments together with the international community and reserves the right to make further responses,” the foreign ministry said.
Kanji Tachiya, who heads a local fisheries cooperative in Fukushima, told NHK ahead of the announcement: “They told us that they wouldn’t release the water into the sea without the support of fishermen.
“We can’t back this move to break that promise and release the water into the sea unilaterally.”
South Korea’s foreign minister on Monday expressed “serious regret over this decision, which could have a direct or indirect impact on the safety of our people and the surrounding environment in the future”.
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