Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Announces Decision to Discharge Nuclear Wastewater into the Sea (Reuters)
The Japanese government said on Tuesday (April 13) that It plans to discharge more than 1 million tons of nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The decision has raised concerns in neighboring countries such as China and South Korea.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said: "We will ensure that the radioactive standards discharged into nuclear wastewater are higher than international standards, and the Japanese government will take measures to prevent harmful rumors." Under these premises, we believe that emissions to the oceans are a realistic option. At a meeting of government cabinet officials, Suga added that the emissions work will begin in about two years, and the whole process is expected to take decades.
The move, made more than a decade after the Fukushima earthquake, would once again hit the fishing industry in Fukushima, a move in northeastern Japan, which local fishermen have long opposed.
The issue of nuclear sewage treatment at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, operated by TEPCO, has been a thorny issue for the Japanese government, and the decision is the most controversial step on the issue.
(Reporter: Li Xiang Editor: Wang Xinyue)