China bans seafood from Japan after the Fukushima nuclear plant begins its wastewater release

AUGUST 24, 2023:

OKUMA, Japan (AP) — Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant in Fukushima is releasing its first batch of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. In a live video from a control room at the plant Thursday (Aug. 24, 2023), Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings showed a staff member turn on a seawater pump, marking the beginning of the controversial project that’s expected to last for decades. China responded by banning seafood from Japan, effective immediately. Shortly after China’s announcement, TEPCO’s president said the utility will compensate Japanese business owners for damages suffered by export bans over the wastewater release. The Japanese government and TEPCO say the treatment and dilution exceeds international safety standards. Still, some scientists say the long-term impact needs attention.

AUGUST 22, 2023:

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese government says treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be released into the ocean as early as Thursday (Aug. 24, 2023). Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead at a meeting Tuesday of the Cabinet ministers involved in the plan. He instructed the plant’s operator to being the release Thursday if weather and sea conditions permit. It comes more than 12 years after nuclear meltdowns at the plant caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The water has been accumulating since then and will be released over decades.

JULY 5, 2023:

FUTABA, Japan (AP) — The head of the U.N. atomic agency has toured (July 5, 2023) Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi observed where the treated water will be sent through a pipeline to a coastal facility, where it will be highly diluted with seawater. It will then be released 1,000 yards offshore through an undersea tunnel. The wastewater release still faces opposition in and outside Japan. Grossi also met with local mayors and fishing association leaders and stressed that the IAEA will be present throughout the water discharge, which is expected to last decades, to ensure safety and address residents’ concerns.

MARCH 10, 2023:

OKUMA, Japan (AP) — Twelve years after the triple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan is preparing to release a massive amount of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea. Japanese officials say the release is unavoidable and should start soon. Dealing with the wastewater is less of a challenge than the daunting task of decommissioning the plant. That process has barely progressed, and the removal of melted nuclear fuel hasn’t even started.

JULY 22, 2022:

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s nuclear regulator has approved methods and facilities for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea next year. Friday’s (July 22, 2022) approval by the Nuclear Regulation Authority will enable Tokyo Electric Power Co. to start building necessary facilities ahead of the discharge. It came two months after a preliminary greenlight and a subsequent public reviewing process. TEPCO submitted the plan in December as a necessary step for the Fukushima Dai-Ichi’s ongoing decommissioning. The government and TEPCO plan to begin gradually releasing the treated water in spring 2023.

FEBRUARY 2022:

TOKYO (AP) — A remote-controlled robot is being used to probe the hardest-hit nuclear reactor at Japan’s wrecked Fukushima plant, as officials push forward with clean-up operations that have been mired in delays. The plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said on Tuesday (Feb. 8, 2022) the submersible robot was sent into Unit 1 to prepare the way for further probes assessing melted fuel within the reactor. Officials say that removal of the highly dangerous melted fuel will take 30-40 years, but critics claims that’s overly optimistic. An earthquake and tsunami in 2011 unleashed a disastrous meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi’s three reactors that partly sunk their radioactive cores into the plant’s concrete foundations, making removal extremely difficult.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021:

TOKYO (AP) — Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency have asked Japan for full and detailed information about a plan to release treated but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. The three-member team, which is assisting Japan with the planned release, met with government officials to discuss technical details before traveling to the Fukushima Daiichi plant for an on-site examination. The government and the plant’s operator plan to start releasing the water in spring 2023 so hundreds of storage tanks at the plant can be removed to make room for other facilities needed for its decommissioning. The idea has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, local residents and Japan’s neighbors, including China and South Korea.