Activists in Seoul protest against Japan's plan to discharge contaminated water from the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea on Nov. 9, 2020. (Photo: Yonhap News)
Japan will announce how it plans to discharge 1.2 million tons of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea as early as this year.
An official from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul made the remark during a media briefing Friday.
The official said Japan is willing to work with South Korea and other neighboring countries on the monitoring of the envisioned release of the contaminated water.
The officials said no decision has been made on exactly how monitoring will be carried out and shared with other countries, but claimed the processed wastewater will meet scientific safety standards.
Seoul has repeatedly called for Tokyo to provide concrete explanations as to how it will deal with radioactive water transparently share information related to the disposal plan.
Tokyo has pushed for disposal into the Pacific Ocean, saying that storage capacity will run out by the summer of 2022, and that it's the most realistic and relatively harmless method.
Environmental groups and activists, such as Greenpeace, have voiced concerns over unknown long-term effects of releasing the treated water and continue to call for further examination.
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