Japan to release treated, diluted radioactive water in the Pacific

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday approved a plan to release treated and diluted radioactive water from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown into the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings could begin releasing the water by Thursday. The International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN nuclear watchdog group, approved the proposed release last month since the water will be treated with seawater and diluted to levels that exceed international safety standards. The IAEA said it would continue testing sealife and ocean water as over 1 million tons of processed radioactive waste is released.

What do Japan’s neighbors think about the release? Chinese officials called the plan “extremely selfish” and “irresponsible.” Hong Kong and Macau will ban all seafood imports from the Fukushima region starting Thursday. The South Korean government released a statement on Tuesday and said it found no scientific issues with releasing the water but did not necessarily support the decision.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about the efforts to clean up the nuclear mess at Fukushima.