Page 2 - Fukushima

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida visits Fukushima plant to highlight safety

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will make a brief visit to the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday to highlight the safety of an impending release of treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, a divisive plan that his government wants to start soon despite protests at home and abroad. His trip comes hours after he returned home Saturday from a summit with U.S. and South Korean leaders at the American presidential retreat of Camp David. Before leaving Washington on Friday, Kishida said it is time to make a decision on the treated water's release date, which has not been set due to the controversy surrounding the plan. Since the government announced the release plan two years ago, it has faced strong opposition from Japanese fishing organizations, which worry about further damage to the reputation of their seafood as they struggle to recover from the accident. Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, turning it into a political and ...

S Korea shoppers stock up salt as Japan plans to releases Fukushima water

In many supermarkets across South Korea, salt has vanished from their stores which had led to heightened public anxiety

Japan defends neutrality of IAEA report on Fukushima water release plan

Japan's industry minister visited the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Monday to see equipment that would be used in the planned release into the sea of treated radioactive water to ensure the safety of the controversial plan, while demonstrators, including many from South Korea, rallied against it. The Japanese government defended the neutrality of the United Nations nuclear agency's final report that concluded Japan's water release plan met international safety standards, denying allegations that Japan pressured the International Atomic Energy Agency into publishing only favourable results. Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Monday morning to see key equipment, including an emergency shutdown system, days after the Japanese regulatory authority granted a permit for the operator and the IAEA said the environmental impact from the water release would be negligible. The government and the plant operator,

IAEA chief Grossi nods to discord among Fukushima water report experts

Beijing has blasted the IAEA's report saying the body should not be endorsing a plan which poses risks to marine life and human health, despite assurances from Japan

IAEA chief to visit Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant before water release

The UN nuclear chief is to visit Japan's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Wednesday after the agency affirmed the safety of a contentious plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea. On his way to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a highlight of his four-day Japan visit, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi will join government and utility officials to hear the concerns of mayors and fishing association leaders and to assure them of the plan's safety. The IAEA, in its final report released Tuesday, concluded the plan to release the wastewater which would be significantly diluted but still have some radioactivity meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible. But local fishing organisations have rejected the plan because they worry that their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn't contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety

UN nuke chief to visit Fukushima plant, see preps for release of wastewater

The chief of the UN nuclear agency will visit Japan next week to meet with Japanese leaders and see final preparations for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, officials said Friday. Japan's government hopes the visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi will add credibility to the discharge plan. It has been strongly opposed by local fishing groups and by neighboring South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations over safety concerns. Grossi will visit Japan July 4-7, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said. He is expected to meet with Hayashi, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visit the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Japan attaches great importance to the efforts of the IAEA, which serves an important role in promoting nuclear nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. We hope

Fukushima nuclear plant to release treated wastewater into sea: Operator

All equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for a safety inspection by Japanese regulators this week, the plant operator said Monday, as opposition to the plan continues in and outside Japan over safety concerns. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said it installed the last piece of an undersea tunnel dug to release the water offshore, completing the construction of the necessary equipment that began last August. A mandatory safety inspection of the equipment will begin Wednesday, said Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shinichi Yamanaka, who visited the Fukushima Daiichi plant last week. If everything goes well, TEPCO is expected to receive a safety permit for the release about a week after the inspection ends, officials said. Discharge of the treated water is expected to begin this summer, although the exact date has not been set. The plan has faced fierce .

Japan's fisheries head against pumping treated radioactive water into sea

The head of Japan's national fisheries cooperatives has reiterated his group's opposition to the planned discharge of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, demanding the government take full responsibility for any negative impact on the industry. We cannot support the government's stance that an ocean release is the only solution, said Masanobu Sakamoto, president of JF Zengyoren, or the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives. A release is expected to begin this summer, though the exact date has not been set. Sakamoto met Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Thursday and handed him a statement of objection to the treated wastewater release plan. Whether to release the water into the sea or not is a government decision, and in that case we want the government to fully take responsibility, he told reporters after meeting with Nishimura. Japan's government announced plans in April 2021 to gradually release the treat

S Korea dismisses chances of lifting Japan Fukushima seafood import ban

S Korea's current ban on imports of seafood from Japan's Fukushima area will remain in place regardless of Tokyo's planned release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant

IAEA says Fukushima water release into sea to follow safety standards

The head of a UN nuclear agency task force assessing the safety of Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water from the wreaked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea said on Friday that Japanese regulators have shown their commitment to comply with international safety standards. International concern over the plan has been widening. Last week, the head of the 18-nation Pacific Island Forum, which includes Australia, New Zealand and other island nations, expressed concern about any impact of radiation from the water on the livelihoods of people in the region which suffered in the past from atomic bomb tests, and urged Japan to suspend the plan. The region is steadfast in its position that there should be no discharge until all parties verify through scientific means that such a discharge is safe, forum Secretary General Henry Puna said at a public seminar on the Fukushima issue. The US National Association of Marine Laboratories, an organisation of more than 100 laboratories, .

Japan eyes delay of Fukushima nuclear power plant water release: Report

Japan has revised the timing of a planned release to the sea of treated but still radioactive wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to around spring or summer", indicating a delay from the initial target of this spring, after factoring in the progress of a release tunnel and the need to gain public support. The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, announced in April 2021 a plan to begin releasing the treated wastewater into the sea starting in spring 2023. They say more than 1 million tons of water stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant are hampering its decommissioning and risk leaking in the event of a major earthquake or tsunami. Under the current plan, TEPCO will transport the treated water through a pipeline from the tanks to a coastal facility, where it will be diluted with seawater and sent through an undersea tunnel, currently under construction, to an offshore outlet. The company has acknowledged the possibility of rough win

Japan approves plan to release Fukushima nuclear plant wastewater

Japan's nuclear regulator approved plans by the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to release its treated radioactive wastewater into the sea next year

Earthquake aftermath: Japan fighting to avoid mass power cuts

Govt officials warned power supply is expected to fall short of demand Tuesday evening, and officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co. said there could be partial outages if the supply squeeze continues

Power outage alert in Japan amid earthquake damage, cold weather

The magnitude-7.4 earthquake off the coast of Fukushima on March 16 killed four people and injured more than 230 others

7.3 magnitude Japan quake cuts power to 2 million households

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage

Tepco finds melting of ice wall at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant

The ice wall is intended to limit the seepage of groundwater into the plant, which has created large amounts of toxic water being stored by Tepco in tanks.

IAEA team in Japan to help prepare Fukushima water release

An IAEA mission arrived in Japan on Monday to help prepare for a decades-long release into the ocean of treated but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, officials said

United Nations team: Unclear if Fukushima cleanup can finish by 2051

Honestly speaking, I don't know, and I don't know if anybody knows, said Christophe Xerri, head of an International Atomic Energy Agency team reviewing progress in the plant's cleanup.

South Korea regrets Japan's decision on dumping radioactive water into sea

South Korea expressed strong regret on Tuesday over Japan's decision to dump radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean

Japan to dump over 1 mn tonnes of treated Fukushima water into sea

Some scientists say the long-term impact on marine life from low-dose exposure to such large volumes of water is unknown.