MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2023) Japan is planning to start the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea between late August and early September after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida returns from a trilateral summit with the US and South Korean leaders, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on Monday, citing sources.
Kishida is expected to discuss the water discharge plan with US President Joe Biden and their South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, during the summit on August 18 at the Camp David presidential residence in Maryland, 62 miles northwest of Washington, the news agency reported.
The Japanese prime minister will hold a meeting with relevant Japanese ministries after his return from the summit on August 20 to appoint a date of the water discharge, the report said.
Japan initially planned to begin discharging water purified of all radionuclides except tritium into the ocean 0.6 miles from the station this spring. However, the deadline was pushed back to the summer of 2023 due to adverse weather conditions and other factors.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred on March 11, 2011. The plant was severely damaged by a magnitude 9 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean. This triggered a massive tsunami that hit the plant and caused three nuclear reactors to melt down. The accident is considered the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and has resulted in widespread contamination of local soil and water. The disaster left 22,200 people dead or missing.
