More than 500 Olympic swimming pools' worth of treated wastewater will be released into the Pacific over decades in a plan endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But China has issued a furious response, and its allies in the Pacific have backed that criticism despite safety assurances from Japan and the IAEA.
Solomons' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare -- who has delayed elections and scolded Western powers while embracing Beijing's chequebook diplomacy -- issued a "strong statement against Japan's decision".
The water release, he said, "has an impact on our people, ocean, economy and livelihood."
There was a similar message in the Fijian capital Suva on Friday, where a rare protest attracted hundreds.
Demonstrators carried placards saying "Nuclear-free sea!" and "Pacific Lives Matter".
The protest was promoted by FijiFirst, an opposition party whose leader, ousted prime minister Frank Bainimarama, courted closer ties with China while in office.
The party accused Fiji's government of "failing future generations by allowing Japan to dump its nuclear waste into our ocean".
Other leaders appeared convinced by the safety assessments.
"Japan has reassured the region that the water has been treated," said Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, who is currently chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, a regional bloc.
"I believe that the discharge meets international safety standards."
- An opening for Beijing -
China has repeatedly and strongly criticised the release plan, banned Japanese seafood imports and cast doubt on the expert assessments that concluded the operation poses no harm to the environment.
Nigel Marks, a physics professor at Australia's Curtin University, said the released water contains negligible amounts of radioactive tritium.
"The Pacific Ocean contains 8,400 grams of pure tritium, while Japan will release 0.06 grams of tritium every year," he said.
"The minuscule amount of extra radiation won't make the tiniest jot of difference."
Regardless of the science, the Fukushima release has created a political opening for Beijing, according to Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat who is now with the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
Japan has "done a lot of diplomacy to win over as many Pacific leaders as they can", he said, but "almost universally this will be an unpopular decision among Pacific communities".
"You can imagine Beijing using its diplomatic access to encourage some of its partners to speak out about this strongly, because it serves Beijing's interests."
As well as fears about damaging vital fish supplies and sensitive marine ecosystems, the Fukushima water release has caused disquiet in a region where nuclear issues are highly sensitive.
For decades, major powers including the United States, Britain and France used the sparsely populated South Pacific to test atomic weapons -- with consequences that linger to this day.
Beijing fishmongers worry as Japan begins Fukushima water release
Beijing (AFP) Aug 24, 2023 -
Seafood sellers in Beijing expressed consternation Thursday over Japan's gradual release of wastewater from the disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.
Hours before the release began, a store manager named Wang Jinglong in one of the Chinese capital's biggest seafood markets told AFP there had already been a "major impact" on his business, especially tuna sales.
"We used to get some fresh Japanese fish, but due to customs bans we stopped receiving them two months ago," Wang said, referring to import controls imposed last month.
Wang showed AFP frozen Japanese seafood products that he will be unable to restock once sold -- if customers are still interested.
"There's a large gap in our sales volume compared with before. In the past, such as during the pandemic, we had to kill three to five tuna every week," Wang said.
"Now we kill very few fish and they are not from Japan, but from Australia, New Zealand and Spain."
The 53-year-old said the quality of those products is "very poor, and not comparable to that of Japan".
He said he has little choice in the face of "great resistance" from the public to Japanese products.
"This pollution topic is being closely followed."
The release plan has been endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the United Nations' nuclear watchdog -- which said it meets international standards and "will not cause any harm to the environment".
And the overriding consensus among international experts is that the operation is safe.
But shortly after the discharge of wastewater began on Thursday, China said it would suspend the import of all Japanese aquatic products.
Meanwhile, many shoppers responded by rushing to buy large quantities of table salt, prompting the state monopoly to issue a plea for moderation.
Chinese consumers snapped up salt in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster based on groundless rumours that the iodine in it could prevent radiation poisoning.
"Due to the impact of Japan's discharge of nuclear wastewater, some markets in China have seen panic buying of table salt," China Salt said in a statement on Thursday evening.
"Salt reserves and supplies remain abundant," the state-owned firm said, but added that "online retailers as well as some commercial supermarket channels have exhibited temporary shortages".
"We are working overtime to add extra production and deliveries, and doing all we can to guarantee market supply," the company said.
"We urge all sectors of society to consume salt in a managed way and not blindly hoard it."
Elsewhere in the Beijing market, workers said the impact of the water release plan had been significant.
Many recently stopped selling all seafood from Japan.
"The plan to release the water is causing trouble for Japan and all other countries," said Huang Xiaohao, the boss at a store advertising imported products.
"If you look around at what we're selling, you'll find that most of these things are actually domestic products," he said.
Pressure has come from both official customs restrictions, others said, as well as from consumers who worry about a supposed impact of Japanese seafood products on their health.
One merchant who declined to be named told AFP that tuna from places other than Japan -- where he usually sourced products -- are simply not as good.
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