Fukushima nuclear plant
China called the leaking of effluent from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean extremely selfish and irresponsible on Thursday.
Japan began releasing toxic water from the crippled plant early on Thursday, an action that the country claims is safe but has sparked a heated protest from China.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also ruled the release safe, but Beijing has prohibited food imports from ten Japanese prefectures, with Hong Kong following suit.
In a statement, Beijing’s foreign ministry stated, “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”.
“Japan did not prove the legitimacy of the plan or the long-term reliability of the nuclear wastewater purification equipment”, the statement reads.
It went on to say, “Tokyo also failed to demonstrate the authenticity and accuracy of the nuclear wastewater data, (and) did not prove that ocean discharge is harmless to the marine environment and human health”.
“What the Japanese side has done is to push the risks onto the entire world (and) pass on the pain to future generations of human beings”, the statement continued.
“By treating the release of the wastewater as a fait accompli, the Japanese side has simultaneously placed itself in the international dock”, the statement added.
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