The Japanese premier Fumio Kishida has decided, after an inspection: the procedures that will see the pouring of the radioactive water contained in the tanks of the Fukushima nuclear plant devastated by the disaster of March 2011 will begin on Thursday .
The authorization for the procedure had been given by Kishida's predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, in April 2021.
The Tokyo government's decision is met with opposition from neighboring countries, primarily China, which has banned some food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures, and from the local fishing industry, concerned about the reputation of products from the area.
As early as last month, the nearly 1,000 tanks on the site were at 98 percent of their capacity, said Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the operator of the plant. Last July, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) established that the Japanese executive's plan is in line with global safety standards and has a "negligible radiological impact on people and the environment".
The agency said it will maintain an on-site presence at the plant during the review, and will publish data that will be shared with the global community, including real-time tracking of the findings. The Japanese premier himself declared that Japan will continue to communicate the plan to residents and the international community "with a high level of transparency", minimizing any damage to the area's reputation.
(Unioneonline)