Tokyo must stop and listen to the world, says Beijing, as Japan’s PM claims Fukushima wastewater release into ocean cannot wait — RT World News
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reiterated its opposition to Japan’s decision to release nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean, after Tokyo’s new leader said the discharge could wait no longer.
Speaking on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian took aim at Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, who visited the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on Sunday.
“The Japanese side must listen to the voice of the international community, revoke the wrong decision, and stop advancing preparations for the discharge of nuclear wastewater into the ocean,”According to the spokesperson, Tokyo required authorization from other countries and international institutions.
Zhao stated that the Fukushima issue regarding nuclear waste disposal is not an issue for Japan but was a significant international problem for everyone living in the Pacific Rim countries and for the marine environment.
He said China and other nations had requested assurances about the reliability of Japan’s nuclear wastewater purification equipment and raised concerns about the impact of releasing the supposedly treated waters into the ocean.
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He said that Japan hadn’t exhausted all options for safe storage of the radioactive waste, which had been used to treat Fukushima’s powerplant following its meltdown 10 years ago.
Zhao’s comments came after Japanese leader Kishida visited the nuclear plant and its huge facility for storing wastewater on Sunday. “I felt strongly that the water issue was a crucial one that should not be pushed back,” Kishida told reporters having been shown around by the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power.
The operator revealed plans in August to construct an underground tunnel that would allow the water to be released into the ocean. This was after the government had previously decided to release the treated water to the sea. International Atomic Energy Agency stated it would send specialists to Japan to examine the plans for discharge to the ocean.
Greenpeace stated last year that wastewater from the plant proved to be far more harmful than what the Japanese government claimed. According to Greenpeace, even though the wastewater was purportedly treated with chemicals, it still had contaminants. “dangerous levels of carbon-14” – a radioactive substance that has the “potential to damage human DNA.”It is known that water contains radioactive tritium.
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