The start of the discharge of around 540 Olympic swimming pools' worth of water over several decades is a big step in decommissioning the still highly dangerous site 12 years after one of the world's worst nuclear accidents.
Live video provided by plant operator TEPCO showed two engineers clicking on computer mouses and an official saying -- after a countdown -- that the "valves near the seawater transport pumps are opening".
Japan has repeatedly insisted the wastewater will be harmless, with its position backed by UN atomic watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But China has warned it will contaminate the ocean, and immediately responded Thursday by blasting Japan as "extremely selfish".
China then banned all Japanese seafood imports "to comprehensively prevent the food safety risks of radioactive contamination".
Local fisherman in Japan have also voiced opposition to the release.
About 10 people held a protest near Fukushima on Thursday and around 100 others gathered outside TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo.
"It's like dumping an atomic bomb in the ocean. Japan is the first country that was attacked with an atomic bomb in the world, and the prime minister of the country made this decision," said Kenichi Sato, 68, in Tokyo.
- Multiple meltdowns -
Three reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi facility in northeastern Japan went into meltdown following a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people in 2011.
Since then, TEPCO has collected 1.34 million cubic metres of water that was contaminated as it cooled the wrecked reactors, along with groundwater and rain that has seeped in.
Japan says that all radioactive elements have been filtered out except the tritium, levels of which are harmless and lower than what is discharged by operational nuclear power plants -- including in China.
Environmental group Greenpeace says that the filtration process is flawed. China and Russia have suggested the water be vaporised and released into the atmosphere instead.
But Japan's analysis is backed by most experts.
"When released into the Pacific, the tritium is further diluted into a vast body of water and would quickly get to a radioactivity level which is not discernibly different from normal seawater," said Tom Scott from the University of Bristol.
TEPCO will carry out four releases of the treated water from Thursday until March 2024.
The first will last about 17 days, though it is expected to take around 30 years for all of the wastewater to be discharged.
With around 1,000 steel containers holding the water, TEPCO has said it needs to clear space for the removal of highly dangerous radioactive nuclear fuel and rubble from three wrecked nuclear reactors.
- Sushi safety -
Even before Thursday's release, China had banned seafood imports from 10 of Japan's 47 prefectures and imposed radiation checks.
Hong Kong and Macau, both Chinese territories, followed suit this week.
China's reaction on Thursday extended its ban to cover all of Japan.
Analysts said that while China may have genuine safety concerns, its strong reaction is also motivated at least in part by its economic rivalry and frosty relations with Japan.
The South Korean government, which is seeking to improve ties with Japan, has not objected, although many ordinary people are worried and there have been scattered protests.
On Thursday police arrested more than 10 people who tried to enter the Japanese embassy in Seoul.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Thursday that there was "no need to be excessively concerned" about the plan.
Han also criticised what he called a "politically driven" campaign and "fake news" to fan fears.
Social media posts in China and South Korea have included false claims about the release, including doctored images of deformed fish with claims they were linked to Fukushima.
- 'Future generations' -
People in the Japanese fishing industry also oppose the release, concerned that governments and consumers will shun their seafood.
"I am worried about the future," protestor Ruiko Muto, 70, told AFP in Miharu near the power plant.
"We can't pass on the responsibility of what happened during our generation to the generation of our children and to future generations."
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 that 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, referencing the 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 these products is "very poor, and not comparable to that of Japan".
But in the face of "great resistance" from the public to Japanese products, he said he has little choice.
"This pollution topic is being closely followed."
The release plan has been endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the UN's 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.
And 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 of 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 both from official customs restrictions, others said, as well as from consumers who worry about the 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.
UN atomic watchdog says tritium concentration of discharged Fukushima water 'far below' operational limit
Vienna (AFP) Aug 24, 2023 -
The tritium concentration in the wastewater from the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant, which Japan began releasing into the Pacific Ocean Thursday, is well below the operational limit, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
"IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) experts this week took samples from the first batch of diluted water prepared for discharge," the atomic watchdog, which oversees the process, said in a statement.
"The IAEA's independent on-site analysis confirmed that the tritium concentration in the diluted water that is being discharged is far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per litre," it added.
The limit is 40 times lower than the Japanese national safety standard for tritium levels in water, which is in line with the international standard of 60,000 becquerels per litre (Bq/L).
It is also around seven times lower than the limit set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for drinking water (10,000 Bq/litre).
Japan has repeatedly insisted the wastewater will be harmless, with its position backed by UN atomic watchdog.
The start of the discharge of around 540 Olympic swimming pools' worth of water over several decades is a big step in decommissioning the still highly dangerous site 12 years after one of the world's worst nuclear accidents.
Although such water release is standard practice in the nuclear industry, local fisherman in Japan as well as a furious China have blasted the move.
In an effort to diminish concerns, the IAEA has dispatched a team to the plant to ensure that "the process is carried out in a safe and transparent way".
Japan plans to release by 2050 some 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater now stored at the plant site.
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