Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant Sunday and will address the issue of releasing treated wastewater from the disaster site.
(Bloomberg) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant Sunday and will address the issue of releasing treated wastewater from the disaster site.
“The release of treated water is an issue that cannot be postponed to make steady progress on the decommissioning work and the reconstruction of Fukushima,” Kishida told reporters after a summit with US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David in rural Maryland.
The plan to discharge the water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site into the Pacific Ocean has angered neighbors including China, which imposed a ban on food imports from Fukushima and announced that products from the rest of Japan would be fully screened.
Kishida and Biden discussed Japan’s handling of the treated water in a separate bilateral meeting, during which the Japanese leader expressed gratitude for the US support for Tokyo’s efforts on the issue, according to a government release.
Read more: Japan to Release Fukushima Water as Soon as August, Reports Say
Kishida said he planned to meet with the chairman of a national fishermen’s association, which has been voicing concerns about the possible impact of discharged water on the industry. The Asahi newspaper reported earlier that the premier would clarify the safety of the plan to fishery officials on Monday and that he would decide on the timing of the release with the cabinet as soon as Tuesday.
While Kishida refrained from providing a specific timeline for the release, he said “the government will confirm the situation and make a decision based on safety assurance and efforts to mitigate reputational damage,”
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