Tokyo, Aug. 20, (dpa/GNA) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a brief visit to the remains of the Fukushima power plant on Sunday ahead of the planned release of treated coolant water from the nuclear disaster site into the sea.
His visit sought to persuade the fishing industry that the plans to discharge the waters are safe and will not harm business, following widespread protests.
The planned discharge of the water is a long-term undertaking “and it is necessary to deal with it continuously and closely,” Kishida told Japanese media on Sunday after a tour of the plant.
On Monday, he is to meet the chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Associations in Tokyo to discuss the project. Asked when the water discharge would begin, Kishida was quoted as saying: “I have to hold back at this time.”
Kishida will convene with relevant cabinet ministers on Tuesday to discuss a start date, Japanese news agency Kyodo stated Saturday, citing a government source.
Previous media reports suggested it would be end of August or early September.
China, alongside local fishermen, also rejects the plan and has tightened import controls on Japanese food products.
In the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, core meltdowns occurred in 2011 due to an earthquake and tsunami. The reactors still need to be cooled with water, which is stored in around 1,000 tanks.
Over 1.3 million metric tons of coolant water have accumulated, for which storage space is running out.
Tokyo decided to discharge the water into the Pacific Ocean through a special 1-kilometre-long tunnel in a process estimated to take around 30 years.
The water first undergoes a special treatment process, which Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority recently granted approval for, after getting the green light from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
GNA