Japan's dumping of Fukushima nuke wastewater should be opposed

IN the spring or summer of 2021, Japan alarmingly announced that it would release around 1.3 million tons of contaminated water or wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. This contaminated water was a build-up at the wrecked Fukushima plant after treatment and dilution. These 1.3 million tons of wastewater can fill around 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

After two years, in a ministerial meeting in January of this year (2023), the Japanese government announced that it was pressing ahead with its unilateral decision to release the 1.3 million tons of radioactive wastewater from the deceased Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean this spring or summer despite widespread opposition from Japanese local fisherfolk, marine scientists, and from countries and civil society organizations across the Asia-Pacific region.