China announced on Thursday that it is banning seafood from Japan. This comes as a response to Tokyo's decision to release treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant. The decision has escalated tension between the neighbours.
Japan is releasing the toxic water 12 years after the March 2011 nuclear meltdowns, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The ban is effective immediately and applies to import of all 'aquatic products'. Authorities told AP they will “dynamically adjust relevant regulatory measures as appropriate to prevent the risks of nuclear-contaminated water discharge to the health and food safety of our country.”
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has begun discharging more than 1m tonnes of tainted water into the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power from Thursday after Japan's government approved the plan. The UN atomic watchdog IAEA approved of the plan too. China described the operation as a “selfish and irresponsible act.”
Throughout the controversy, Japan has argued that discharging the treated water is safe and that the nuclear plant urgently needs to clear up space. Authorities said that no abnormalities had been detected with the seawater pump or surrounding facilities.
“The ocean is the common property of all humanity, and forcibly starting the discharge of Fukushima’s nuclear wastewater into the ocean is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act that ignores international public interests,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement, the Guardian reported.
Initially, 7,800 cubic metres of water will be released and it will take 17 days. The earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt. The plant's operator Tepco said it would release 31,200 tons of the treated water by the end of March 2024.
