<Anchor>



Local media reported that the Japanese government will soon decide to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.

The international community, including us, has continued to insist that radioactive water should not be spilled into the sea, but there is a prospect that the Japanese government will officially announce its release policy by the end of this month.



First, let’s look at the report of Tokyo Correspondent Yoo Seong-jae and connect directly to Japan.



<Reporter> A



tank of contaminated water that is densely packed within the site of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.



It contains close to 180 tons of radioactive contaminated water a day, such as coolant used to cool nuclear fuel in the exploded reactor, groundwater and rainwater.



We have collected 1.23 million tons in 1,000 water tanks so far, but after two years of 1.37 million tons, the capacity of the erected tank will be full.



Japanese media have said in concert that the Japanese government will decide later this month to dump the polluted water into the sea.



It means that the ministerial meeting attended by Prime Minister Suga and related ministers will decide to release the sea, but NTV broadcast predicted that this meeting will be held around the 27th.



[Kaiyama/Japan Economic and Industry Awards: I think it is necessary to decide on the (treatment) policy early.] The



Japanese government, however, avoided confirming the specific timing of the decision.



[Kato/Japan Secretary of State: I have not decided when to decide.

However, it is not possible to postpone the disposal of contaminated water without setting a policy forever.]



The Japanese government's procedure for collecting opinions on seven occasions with Fukushima residents and fishing groups has been completed earlier this month.



When the Japanese government finally decides to discharge the sea, the nuclear power plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power, submits the discharge plan and begins work to build the necessary facilities.



The actual discharge is expected in two years after the approval process of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is passed.



(Video coverage: Moon Hyun-jin, video editing: Park Player)



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<Anchor>



Correspondent Yoo

Seong-jae,

there have been stories that Japan will

dump

radioactive water into the sea, but there were observations that it would not be easy to decide because of the Tokyo Olympics. What is the reason for speeding up?



<Reporter>



If Japan decides to release the ocean after the Tokyo Olympics next year, it will look a little better for Japan, but the nuclear power plant situation is serious to wait until then.



The storage capacity of contaminated water is gradually reaching its limit, and from next year, we plan to take out high-level radioactive waste such as nuclear fuel little by little from the inside of the exploded nuclear power plant, but we need to secure a place to store this on the site.



The contaminated water is stored after passing through a radioactive material filtering device called'Alps'. This is the claim of the Japanese government.



<Anchor> Since



other countries also discharge cooling water from nuclear power plants, there will be no problem if the concentration is lowered and flowed. This is Japan's claim, but is the story a little different about the Fukushima nuclear power plant where the explosion occurred?



<Reporter>



Yes, so fishermen in particular are strongly opposed.



Because it's a matter of living.



[Nozaki/Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Federation President: This is a position that fishermen all over Japan oppose with one voice.

Do not ask the ocean outfall.]



But the news that the discharge decision came as soon as the appeal yesterday (15th) by the president of the Japan Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives met in succession the relationship between three people that ministers should not ocean outfall.



The Japanese government is saying that it will fully consider the opinions of Fukushima residents and fishermen, but criticism is rising that the ocean discharge policy has already been decided and that collecting opinions so far has been merely a catering act.



(Video coverage: Han Cheol-min, video editing: Jo Moo-hwan) 



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