Japan To Delay Nuclear Wastewater Release In The Pacific

Japan has agreed to delay the discharge of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean until Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) experts verify it is safe to do so.

Thursday 09 February 2023 | 18:40

Staff Writer

From left: Pacific Islands Forum secretary-general Henry Puna, Marshall Islands Foreign Minister and chief negotiator Kitlang Kabua, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a meeting of Pacific Island Forum in Tokyo. Photo: RNZ Pacific

Japan has agreed to delay the discharge of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean until Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) experts verify it is safe to do so.

This comes as incoming PIF chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown travelled to Japan as part of the PIF delegation in an effort to convey their concerns.

He requested a deferral of Japan’s plans which will see over one million tonnes of wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant dumped into the ocean.