Energy & Science
Japan to Release Treated Fukushima Water in Sea, Kyodo Says
- The discharge isn’t expected to occur for another two years
- The decision may hurt Japan’s relationship with South Korea
Storage tanks of contaminated water at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima in 2017.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Japan is planning to release millions of gallons of treated radioactive water from its wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, Kyodo News reported, citing unidentified people close to the matter.
The government has agreed on this plan and an official decision by the cabinet is expected as soon as this month, according to the news agency. The verdict ends years of debate over how to dispose of roughly 1 million cubic meters of the water, enough to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools, that leaked into the power stations that suffered core meltdowns after an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.