Japan: Government will discharge radioactive water from Fukushima plant, PM Fumio Kishida promises to protect fisheries

On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami destroyed the cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing three reactors to melt down and contaminating their cooling water. Scientists generally agree that the environmental impact of treated wastewater will be negligible, but some call for more attention to the dozens of low-dose radionuclides that remain in it.

The government announced the release plan in April 2021 and has since faced strong opposition from Japanese fishing organizations, which have threatened the reputation of their seafood as they struggle to recover from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. And worry about causing harm.

Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, making it a political and diplomatic issue. The government and the plant operator said that the water must be removed to make room for the plant to be shut down and to prevent accidental leaks from the tanks. He says all treated water will be reprocessed until it reaches legally releasable levels and then diluted, making it far safer than international standards.

The International Atomic Energy Agency sought cooperation from Japan to improve transparency and reliability and concluded in a final report in July that the plan if operated as designed, would have negligible impacts on the environment and human health. The government has also stepped up outreach efforts to explain the plan to neighboring countries, especially South Korea, to prevent the issue from interfering with their relations.