Japan to release treated wastewater starting Aug 24
Japan said on Tuesday (August 22) that more than one million tons of treated radioactive water will be released starting Thursday (August 24), with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promising the local fishing industry that authorities will ensure safety and keep their businesses alive. - REUTERS
Transcript
00:00 Japan says it will start releasing more than one million tons of treated radioactive water
00:06 from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant beginning this Thursday.
00:10 It puts a plan into motion approved by the government two years ago, but which has drawn
00:15 strong criticism from China and from the local fishing industry.
00:20 Tokyo says it's a crucial step in decommissioning the disabled plants run by the Tokyo Electric
00:26 Power Company, or TEPCO.
00:28 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
00:32 "TEPCO is asked to swiftly prepare to start the water discharge in accordance with the
00:37 plan approved by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
00:40 As for the specific release date, it is expected to be August 24th, weather and sea conditions
00:46 permitting."
00:48 The treated water was used to cool the plant's few rots after they were hit by a huge tsunami
00:54 in 2011.
00:55 But Japan has maintained that the water release is safe.
00:59 That claim was backed by the UN Nuclear Watchdog, the international atomic energy agency, which
01:04 greenlighted the plan in July.
01:07 The IAEA said the plan met international standards and the impact it would have on people and
01:12 the environment was negligible.
01:14 However, local fishing groups and seafood retailers have opposed the release, saying
01:20 it could cause reputational damage.
01:22 Takashi Nakajima runs a supermarket in the Fukushima area.
01:27 After watching customers slowly begin to eat local seafood again, he fears it will scare
01:32 them away.
01:33 "They say it'll be safe when it's diluted, but they haven't conducted any scientific
01:40 research regarding what would happen as a result of discharging this much of the water
01:44 over 30 years.
01:46 I think it's unscientific at best to release it here, and it's sure to hurt sales of fish.
01:52 That's why I'm strongly against it.
01:53 I don't want them to do it."
01:56 Kishida claimed on Monday that the government had achieved a degree of understanding from
02:01 the fishing industry.
02:02 While Kishida said he believed what he called an accurate understanding of the release was
02:07 spreading around the globe, China has remained a stalwart critic of the plan.
02:14 In July, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called Japan "selfish" and "arrogant,"
02:20 adding it had not fully consulted the international community about the release.
02:25 China bans seafood imports from 10 prefectures in Japan, including Fukushima and the capital
02:30 Tokyo.
02:31 Imports from other prefectures, meanwhile, are tightly controlled and checked.
02:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]