News Japan to release 1m tonnes of contaminated water into sea

[thomas]

Last week, it was reported that the Japanese government is planning to release 1.2m tonnes of contaminated water into the sea off Fukushima. The release would start in 2022 and take about a decade. Currently, every single day the amount of contaminated water, the government calls it "treated radioactive water", increases by about 170 tonnes. Tepco's liquid processing system removes highly radioactive substances, but not tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that - again according to government experts - in small doses is not harmful to humans. Local fishermen oppose the release, fearing for their industry which has been boycotted by South Korea and China.

Japan to release 1m tonnes of contaminated Fukushima water into the sea – reports

Local media say release could begin in 2022 and would take decades to complete, but local fishermen say move will destroy their industry

www.theguardian.com

PM Suga has promised a "swift decision".

PM Suga vows swift decision on release of Fukushima radioactive water - The Mainichi

JAKARTA (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday the government will swiftly decide what to do with treated radioactive water

mainichi.jp

Here's an interesting feature by Al Jazeera. They interviewed Jan Haverkamp (Greenpeace), Michael Penn (Shingetsu News Agency), and Tomohiko Taniguchi (former adviser to Shinzo Abe) who, unsurprisingly, have quite opposing views on the issue.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

 

[jeeplover]

I know after this happen they said irradiated fish were showing up on American shores.

 

[thomas]

Well, it appears they have put off the decision to "to further deepen their discussions."

Japan puts off decision to release treated Fukushima water into sea

Reports of a formal decision later this month to release the 1.2 million tons of treated water had triggered strong opposition from fishermen.

www.japantimes.co.jp