The Japanese government intends to continue to cooperate with China on issues of common interest to build a constructive relationship, but would like to hold a series of meetings in response to Beijing’s actions after the start of the discharge of water from the accident Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, the head said during a press conference. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
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“Last November, there was a positive momentum between Japan and China, and we would like to support it and ask China to take a responsible approach to this issue. Regarding the reaction of the PRC in response to the discharge of ALPS-treated water, we would like to a series of meetings on this issue,” the minister stressed.
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Hayashi also added that Tokyo intends to “continue to engage with China on issues of common interest to build a constructive and stable relationship.”
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“Both countries should make efforts in this direction,” he said.
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On August 24, TERSO began dumping the ocean of water, which had previously served to cool damaged reactors, and then was treated in the ALPS system.
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The system allows cleaning it from 62 types of radionuclides, with the exception of tritium. This water is stored in giant tanks at the station. To date, almost 90% of their volume of 1.37 million tons have been filled.
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Started the day before, the stage of trial water discharge will last 17 days, during which 7,800 cubic meters of water are expected to be released into the ocean. The total volume of water discharged from the Fukushima-1 accident nuclear power plant in Japan during the fiscal year 2023, which will end on March 31, 2024, will amount to 31.2 thousand tons with a concentration of radioactive tritium of 5 trillion becquerels.
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Despite the fact that TEPCO and the Japanese authorities claim that the discharge of water does not pose a threat to the environment and humans, China and a number of other countries are sharply critical of such actions. In particular, the PRC banned the import of all Japanese marine products and increased customs control of other products from Japan.
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In addition, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that after the start of the discharge of water from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant on August 24, it was registering numerous complaints about incoming phone calls, presumably from China, with offensive content. Calls were received both to subscribers in Japan and to Japanese institutions in China. Attacks on Japanese schools in China and diplomatic institutions have also been recorded. In connection with these incidents, a submission was sent to the Chinese side. The Japanese government also urged Beijing to take steps to prevent a recurrence and ensure the safety of Japanese citizens and diplomatic missions.
