The Japanese government has undertaken a plan based on which the contaminated water from the Fukushima power plant will pump out into the Pacific Ocean.
After several years of legal and environmental opposition, this year the Japanese government will implement the plan to discharge the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the framework of this plan, more than one million tonnes of water from the damaged nuclear power plant of Fukushima is supposed to be poured into the Pacific Ocean.
Reuters news agency reported that Japan plans to dump about one million and 300 thousand tons of water contaminated with radioactive materials in the Pacific Ocean, and the completion of this plan will take several decades.
However, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese Foreign Minister assured the safety of this contaminated water and said that Japan is ready to give clear and detailed explanations to the international community.
“Regarding the safety of the water treated by the advanced liquid processing system being discharged into the ocean, japan will continue to provide detailed explanations to the international community based on scientific evidence and with transparency.”
Moreover, after a two-year review, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced that Japan’s programs are in conformity with the agreed international standards and would have negligible impacts on the environment.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: “The plan that was created and proposed is in line with global standards. If the Japanese government proceeds with it, it would have negligible impacts on the environment, meaning the water, fish and sediments. If the Japanese government decides to proceed with it, the IAEA will be permanently here reviewing, evaluating and monitoring this activity for decades to come.”
This is while the Chinese and South Korean governments previously accused the Japanese government of intending to dump this amount of water contaminated with radioactive materials into the Pacific Ocean, regardless of the environmental consequences.
Beijing has described this decision of the Tokyo government as “irresponsible and unilateral”. In addition, in Japan, people started massive protests against the government’s plan to discharge wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
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