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Japan has begun releasing treated radioactive waste water from its Fukushima nuclear plant, officials said on Thursday, despite controversy and diplomatic backlash from neighbouring countries over the move.
China’s foreign ministry firmly opposed the plan on Thursday and said that the disposal of the contaminated water in Fukushima “is a major nuclear safety issue with cross border implications” and added that it was “by no means a private matter for Japan alone”.
The release of the 1 million metric tonnes of treated radioactive water is a major step in the decommissioning procedure for the reactors, which suffered a triple meltdown due to the tsunami triggered by a March 2011 earthquake.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco), the operator of the plant, commenced the water release at 1.03pm local time. Local media said that the initial release operations proceeded without any reported anomalies.
Over the next 17 days or so, Tepco will release about 7,800 tonnes of treated water into the ocean.
The Japanese government has maintained that the measure is necessary for the extensive work spanning decades aimed at decommissioning the facility.
Despite assurances by Japan and the approval of a two-year International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigation which deemed the water safe to release, some neighbouring countries have expressed scepticism over the plan, with Beijing emerging as the biggest critic.
The chief executive of Hong Kong, John Lee, said the release was “irresponsible” and posed “impossible risks to food safety and the irreparable pollution and destruction of the marine environment”.
On Wednesday, Beijing summoned the Japanese ambassador over the discharge of water.
“Vice foreign minister Sun Weidong summoned Japan’s ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, to make solemn representations regarding the Japanese government’s announcement that it would initiate the discharge of Fukushima’s nuclear-contaminated water into the sea,” a foreign ministry statement said on Wednesday.
The water has undergone treatment using the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), a method designed to eliminate radioactive elements except for tritium.
In the upcoming month, Tepco will conduct daily measurements of tritium levels near the water-release outlet about 1 kilometre off the coast.
“In addition to those who will actually handle the operations, we are preparing to release information without delay,” Junichi Matsumoto, the Tepco official in charge of the water-discharge project, said at a news conference before the process started, Asahi Shimbun reported.
“We would like to proceed with a great sense of urgency,” he added.
Earlier, the Japanese government upheld the neutrality of the final report from the United Nations nuclear agency, which maintained that Japan’s water release plan adhered to international safety norms.
Japanese authorities also refuted claims that the country exerted pressure on the IAEA to release solely positive findings, denying any allegations of bias.
On Thursday, however, Greenpeace said that the radiological risks have not been fully assessed and that the biological impacts of tritium, carbon-14, strontium-90 and iodine-129 – to be released with the water – “have been ignored”.
The process of water disposal is a lengthy endeavour that will span decades, involving continuous filtration and dilution, in addition to the planned decommissioning of the plant.
Tepco said that the process of the waste water discharge will be halted in the event of natural disasters or abnormalities.
Meanwhile, fishing communities in Fukushima have expressed opposition to the plan as well. In fact, polls have revealed that these concerns are widely shared among the general populace.
Masanobu Sakamoto, the leader of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, stated on Monday that while the group understands the potential scientific safety of the release, they remain concerned about the potential harm to their reputation.
In a recent Kyodo poll conducted over the weekend, 88.1 per cent of respondents expressed anxiety about the potential economic repercussions arising from the release. China and Hong Kong have already tightened their restrictions on imports.
South Korea on Wednesday stepped up protests against Japan, calling Tokyo’s plan to discharge water from the Fukushima plant an act of “terror”.
“We intend to hold the Yoon government responsible for failing to do its duties,” opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said at a party meeting.
Additional reporting by agencies
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2023-08-24 07:58:11Z
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