Japan eyes Fukushima water release between late Aug. and early Sept.

TOKYO, August 8 ------ Japan is considering beginning the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea between late August and early September, after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida returns from a trilateral summit with the United States and South Korea next week, government sources said.

Kishida is expected to explain the water discharge plan to U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol when they meet at their three-way summit on Aug. 18 at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, near Washington, the sources said. Kishida is expected to hold a meeting with relevant ministers after returning to Japan on Aug. 20 to determine the specific date of the water release.

The government has been weighing the timing of the water release since the International Atomic Energy Agency said in its final report in early July that the planned discharge would comply with global safety standards, amid concern among neighboring countries and local fishermen worried about the potential reputational damage to seafood products. After the government under Kishida's predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, approved a plan in April 2021 to discharge the water into the sea "in around two years," the current administration decided in January to carry it out some time "from spring to around summer."

On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the top government spokesman, told reporters there was no change to the plan.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com