South Korea Worried About Japan's Looming Radioactive Water Dump

South Korea's Foreign Ministry has expressed concerns to Japan about its planned discharge of water used to cool the reactor of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, a ministry official said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2021) South Korea's Foreign Ministry has expressed concerns to Japan about its planned discharge of water used to cool the reactor of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, a ministry official said on Monday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during a visit to the power plant on Sunday that the sight of all the cisterns containing treated wastewater made him realize that its release could no longer be delayed.

"We have expressed serious concerns and opposition to its plan, which could affect our people's health and security as well as the ocean environment," the official was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

The official said that Japan made the decision to flush the radioactive water into the sea without consulting its neighbors. Russia, China and South Korea are worried that disposal of a million tonnes of radioactive water could damage the ecosystem.

Japan said in April that the wastewater would be released gradually starting in 2023. The global nuclear watchdog, IAEA, said nuclear power plants routinely dump decontaminated wastewater, although the amounts stored at the Fukushima plant make it a "unique and complex" case.