The Japanese government is poised to release treated radioactive water accumulated at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea despite opposition from fishermen, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.
It will hold a meeting of related ministers as early as Tuesday to formally decide on the plan, a major development following over seven years of discussions on how to discharge the water used to cool down melted fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The treated water containing radioactive tritium, a byproduct of nuclear reactors, is said to pose little risk to human health because even if one drinks the water, so long as the tritium concentration is low, the amounts of tritium would not accumulate in the body and would soon be excreted.
There is also no risk of external exposure even if the water comes in contact with skin.
Still, concerns remain among
The government has said it cannot continue postponing a decision on the disposal issue, given that the storage capacity of water tanks at the Fukushima complex is expected to run out as early as fall next year.
It asserts that space needs to be secured on the premises, such as for keeping melted fuel debris that will be extracted from the damaged reactors, to move forward with the decades-long process of scrapping the complex.
Plant operator
The government had initially hoped to make a decision on the discharge of the treated water in October last year but later decided it would need more time for discussions amid concerns about reputational damage to marine products.
But Prime Minister
On media reports that
The Japanese government should disclose adequate information and "make a careful decision based on full consultation with neighboring countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in
The ministry added it wants to continue to have close discussions on the issue with
In February last year, a government panel proposed various options for disposing of the water, including releasing it into the ocean as well as evaporating it.
The following month,
The Fukushima Daiichi plant, which suffered core meltdowns following the natural catastrophe in
The water is treated using an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS, to remove most contaminants and stored in tanks on the complex premises. The process, however, cannot remove tritium, a radioactive byproduct of nuclear reactors.
The
The
Kajiyama said at the time that the
==Kyodo
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