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Hundreds of tanks store contaminated water from the Fukushima power station here in February 2017. REUTERS / Tomohiro Ohsumi

South Korea is worried: Japan is seriously considering dumping more than a billion liters of radioactive water from the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

With our correspondent in Seoul, Frédéric Ojardias

This highly contaminated water comes from groundwater beneath the powerhouse and is currently stored in hundreds of reservoirs. According to nuclear experts, the only " realistic option " to get rid of it is " controlled release " in the Pacific Ocean. An "option" that horrifies the South Korean neighbor ...

1,400 tons of radioactive water are recovered each week under the Fukushima plant . Technologies to decontaminate this water are not developed and the Japanese government could therefore allow its rejection in the Pacific Ocean next year, fears Chang Mari, representative of the NGO Greenpeace in Korea.

"To dump this water into the ocean is the cheapest and fastest option, and we are convinced that this will be done [Japan]. Once this contaminated water and tritium are in the ocean, they will follow the ocean currents and find themselves everywhere, including in the sea east of Korea. "

Greenpeace is appealing internationally for the prospect of such radioactive pollution. " It is estimated that it will take 17 years for this radioactive contamination to be sufficiently diluted to reach a safe level. Koreans are very worried. We need the support of the international community to stop the Japanese government. It is a problem that concerns the whole world . "

Greenpeace accuses the Japanese government of refusing to talk about the risks caused by radioactivity of Fukushima. As for the South Korean government, it criticizes Tokyo for its lack of transparency concerning this billion liters of radioactive water that threatens its coasts.