Japan began releasing wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, prompting a furious China to ban all seafood imports from its neighbour. The start of the discharge of around 540 Olympic swimming pools'...
Key switch operations for the initial discharge of wastewater at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Live video provided by plant operator TEPCO showed two engineers clicking on computer mouses and an official saying – after a countdown – that the"valves near the seawater transport pumps are opening". But China has warned the release will contaminate the ocean, and immediately responded Thursday by blasting Japan as"extremely selfish".
"It's like dumping an atomic bomb in the ocean. Japan is the first country that was attacked with an atomic bomb in the world, and the prime minister of the country made this decision," said Kenichi Sato, 68, in Tokyo.Three reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi facility in northeastern Japan went into meltdown following a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people in 2011.
Environmental group Greenpeace says that the filtration process is flawed. China and Russia have suggested the water be vaporised and released into the atmosphere instead."When released into the Pacific, the tritium is further diluted into a vast body of water and would quickly get to a radioactivity level which is not discernibly different from normal seawater," said Tom Scott from the University of Bristol.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Protests mount in South Korea over Japan's plan to release Fukushima waterSouth Korea's majority opposition party and civic groups around the country stepped up protests on Wednesday against Japan's plan to release water from the Fukushima nuclear plant a day ahead of the planned start of the discharge.
Read more »
Protests in South Korea amid concerns over Fukushima water release by JapanPublic concern remains high in South Korea over the plan to release more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water on Thursday.
Read more »
Japan to release Fukushima nuclear wastewater: How dangerous is tritium?Tokyo is under spotlight over controversial move to dump treated radioactive material into the Pacific Ocean, but other countries like China and the US have been doing the same for years.
Read more »
As Japan readies Fukushima water for Pacific release on Thursday, officials seek to calm health concernsJapan plans to begin a decades-long process of releasing treated wastewater from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.
Read more »
Fish Near Fukushima Contained Radioactive Cesium 180 Times Over Japan's LimitThe fish was caught near a drainage outlet where water from melted nuclear reactors flows—some of the same water that is to be treated and released from the power plant starting next month.
Read more »
Japan readies Fukushima water for Pacific release on ThursdayJapan plans to begin a decades-long process of releasing treated wastewater from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.
Read more »