TOKYO: Final preparations to discharge wastewater from the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan were under way on Wednesday, its operator said, a day before the scheduled release into the Pacific Ocean.

Tokyo had announced on Tuesday that the operation would begin on Thursday (today), prompting an angry response from China and partial import bans on Japanese seafood by Hong Kong and Macau.

The operator of the plant, TEPCO, said that it diluted late Tuesday a cubic metre of the wastewater with around 1,200 cubic metres of seawater and allowed it to flow into position in a pipe.

This water will be tested and then from Thursday released into the Pacific Ocean together with more water stored at the site that will be transferred and diluted, TEPCO said in a statement.

Media reports said the operation would begin around 1:00pm (0400 GMT), while the operator declined to confirm the reports.

South Korea’s majority opposition party and civic groups around the country stepped up protests on Wednesday against Japan’s plan to release water.

Conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government has come under criticism as it defended the position that its own assessment found no problems with the scientific and technical aspects of Japan’s plan.

“We intend to hold the Yoon government responsible for failing to do its duties,” opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said at a party meeting, calling Japan’s plan to discharge water from the Fukushima plant an act of terror.

Public concern remains high in South Korea, expressing worry over seafood and ocean contamination, according to surveys.

In a July public survey by the pollster Media Research, 62 per cent of the people said they would cut back or stop consuming seafood once the discharge goes ahead, despite the South Korean government’s assurances to closely monitor the release.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2023