Fukushima N-plant set to start releasing treated radioactive water into Pacific

Japan is to start releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as early as Thursday (Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Pool/AP)

Japan is to start releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as early as Thursday – a controversial step which the government says is essential for the decades of work needed to shut down the facility that suffered reactor meltdowns 12 years ago.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead at a meeting of Cabinet ministers involved in the plan on Tuesday and instructed the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco), to be ready to start the coastal release on Thursday if weather and sea conditions permit.