Pierre Boutier

TOKYO: Over 300 people protested outside the official residence of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday following his decision to release 1.25 million tones of tritium-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

China and South Korea were among the countries that strongly criticized this decision via official channels.

Greenpeace said the decision violated international rules on marine pollution.

The decision to discharge the water into the sea was seen as the most convenient solution as per the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA.) The government has said that the threshold of 1,500 Becquerel’s per liter will not be exceeded.  

However, associations say that the releases of tritium into the sea will be 10 times greater than before the disaster and others opposed say it could damage the food chain.

In a press release, Friends of the Earth disputed the figures put forward by the government and plant operator TEPCO. They say that radioactive substances remain in the water, including strontium 90, iodine and cesium-134 and cesium-137, despite filtration attempts.