On Thursday morning, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (tepco), started the second release of nuclear wastewater into Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, igniting the pre-existing tension with its neighbours, including China.
Over the period of 17 days, about 7,800 cubic meters of diluted radioactive water will be released into the water.
The first release of 7,800 cubic meters of wastewater happened in August 2023, triggering a backlash from neighbouring countries.
China (including Hong Kong), which is one of the main buyers of Japanese sea-borne produce, has now placed a ban on all seafood imports, in a move that is likely to hurt the Japanese economy.
On Thursday, fishermen and other locals in South Korea hit the streets in protest.
Protests also broke out in the neighbouring countries at the time of the first treated radioactive water release in August.
Nonetheless, in July, just before the first treated water release, the UN nuclear watchdog approved the plan, stating that the impact on water, sea creatures and humans is going to be negligible.
In 2011 the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami. Three of Daiichi’s nuclear reactors were flooded by seawater, marking the event the worst nuclear disaster since the infamous Chernobyl explosion.
Over the last decade, about 1.34 million tons of radioactive water has accumulated in 1000 tanks at Daiichi, causing the power plant to be almost out of storage space.
The plan to release treated wastewater is to be carried out over the next 30 years.