PLAN TO RELEASE RADIOACTIVE WATER IN OCEAN DRAWS IRE

Japan is reportedly planning to release a million tonnes of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, a decision that has triggered angry criticism from local fishermen, neighbouring nations and environmental groups. The government's advisory panel is meeting later this month and will formally recommend pouring it into the ocean, according to local media. The panel will call for the water, which is currently stored in tanks at the reactor site, to be again put through a process designed to reduce the radioactivity to below legal standards and dilute it with sea water. In March 2011, three of the seven reactors at the plant suffered meltdowns after the site was flooded by tsunamis triggered by an earthquake off the coast of northeast Japan. The water since used to cool the reactors is highly radioactive. Around 125 tonnes of contaminated water is transferred to tanks on the site every day, with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), the operator of the plant, estimating that storage capacity will be reached in the summer of 2022.