China Furious As Japan Begins Discharge Of Wastewater From Fukushima Nuclear Plant Into Pacific Ocean

Japan has begun releasing treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear site into the Pacific Ocean.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operates the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, on Thursday (23 August) began releasing treated water into the Pacific Ocean.

The discharge is expected to continue for about 30 years as the government and the power company decommission the plant.

TEPCO’s first discharge will involve the release of about 7,800 cubic meters of treated water and take about 17 days to complete, according to a document posted on the company’s website, Bloomberg reported.

The water will contain 1.1 trillion becquerels - a measure of radioactivity - of tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen.

First, the company will dilute 1 cubic meter of treated water with seawater and measure the concentration of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen.

Once the level is confirmed to be below government-mandated levels, TEPCO will "carefully" release the water into the Pacific.

For the fiscal year through the end of March 2024, TEPCO plans to release 31,200 cubic meters of water, or 2.3 per cent of the roughly 1.34 million cubic meters stored in over 1,000 tanks at the Fukushima plant.

The water has been used to cool highly radioactive debris trapped inside the plant's nuclear reactors that were damaged after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns. It has been treated to remove radioactive substances to below government-mandated levels except for the tritium.

While some governments have expressed support for Japan over the wastewater release, others have strongly opposed the move.

The US has backed Japan and Taiwan has agreed that the amount of tritium being released should have “minimal” impact.

However, China and the Pacific Islands have been vocal in their opposition, arguing the release could have broad regional and international impact, and potentially threaten human health and the marine environment, CNN reported.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday (24 August) released a statement condemning the move.

“Forcibly starting the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the ocean is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act that ignores the international public interest,” the Chinese foreign ministry said.

“What Japan has done is to pass on the risks to the whole world and extend the pain to future generations of humankind," it added.

“By lining up the nuclear-contaminated water, Japan has also placed itself in the international dock, which will surely be condemned by the international community for a long time,” the statement added.

Earlier, China and Hong Kong, major importers of Japanese seafood and agricultural products, pledged to take steps to protect food safety if the discharges begin as planned.

China’s customs department banned imports of food from Fukushima and nine other regions earlier this summer.

Hong Kong also confirmed this week it will ban food products imported from some parts of Japan following the release of the treated water.

From Thursday, all live, frozen, chilled, dried, or otherwise preserved seafood products, sea salt and unprocessed or processed seaweed will be prohibited from being imported from cities including capital Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba and Tochigi.