Pacific neighbours slam Japan ahead of Fukushima waste water discharge

Opposition is gathering pace against Japan's environmental policy in the Pacific, as Tokyo prepares to release waste water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Japan is set release water from the stricken Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean from Thursday, 12 years after one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

China, which has already partially halted Japanese food shipments, has sharply criticised the announcement, while Hong Kong and Macau have said they would ban the import of "aquatic products" from 10 Japanese regions, with the latter also banning vegetable and dairy imports.

Japan insists that the gradual discharge of the more than 500 Olympic swimming pools' worth of water from the site in northeast Japan, announced by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday, is safe.

• Japan marks 'unforgettable tragedy' of Fukushima, 10 years on

The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station was knocked out by a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people in March 2011, sending three of its reactors into meltdown.

Operator TEPCO has since collected well over one million tonnes of water used to cool what remains of the still highly radioactive reactors, mixed with groundwater and rain that has seeped in.

TEPCO says the water will be diluted and filtered before release to remove all radioactive substances except tritium, traces of which TEPCO maintains are far below dangerous levels.

However, the Japanese utility's claims have failed to reassure China, which said it would take "necessary measures to safeguard the marine environment, food safety and public health".

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Tuesday, "The ocean is the common property of all humankind, not a place for Japan to arbitrarily dump nuclear-contaminated water."

A nuclear expert, however, said the level of tritium was well below World Health Organization drinking water limits.

"Tritium has been released [by nuclear power plants] for decades with no evidential detrimental environmental or health effects," Tony Hooker, a nuclear expert from the University of Adelaide, told the AFP newswire.

• Japan signs off on plan to pump water from Fukushima nuclear plant into Pacific

IAEA says impact 'negligible' 

Weather permitting, Fukushima waste water will be released into the ocean off Japan's northeast coast at a maximum rate of 500,000 litres per day.

In July, the UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the release would have a "negligible radiological impact on people and the environment."

On Tuesday, the IAEA said its staff would be on site for the start of the discharge and beyond and would publish "real-time and near real-time monitoring data."

Meanwhile, Japan's fisheries agency will take samples of bottom-dwelling flatfish at two designated sampling spots near the outlet of the water pipe.

But environmental pressure group Greenpeace has said the filtration process is flawed.

Japan "has opted for a false solution – decades of deliberate radioactive pollution of the marine environment – during a time when the world's oceans are already facing immense stress and pressures," the NGO said Tuesday.

• Japan forges ahead with plan to release Fukushima wastewater into sea

Salt panic in Korea

On the Asian continent, many South Koreans are alarmed at the prospect of the release, staging demonstrations and even stocking up on sea salt amid fears of contamination.

Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul on Tuesday, with more rallies planned. 

One protester held up a sign reading: "We denounce the Japanese government for killing the ocean!"

However, President Yoon Suk Yeol's government, taking political risks at home, has sought to improve long-frosty relations with Japan and has not objected to the plan.

For its part, China has already accused Japan of treating the ocean like a "sewer", banning imports of food from 10 Japanese prefectures even before the release and imposing strict radiation checks.

However, some observers have noted that, while China's safety concerns may be sincere, geopolitics and economic rivalry have their part to in Beijing's harsh reaction.