On the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited Fukushima Prefecture on March 6. This is his second visit to Fukushima since he took office.
On the same day, he gave instructions on the support of local asylum seekers and responded to the issue of nuclear sewage treatment.
According to the Jiji News Agency, Yoshihide Suga visited Okuma-cho, where the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is located, on the morning of the 6th. Regarding the “difficult areas of return” (areas with excessive radiation levels) around the nuclear power plant, he said: “People who have taken refuge far from their hometowns are very After hard work, the government will continue to work to improve the environment and return the refugees to their homes." After that, he also inspected the industrial base in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture.
After the inspection, Yoshihide Suga held a press conference in Fukushima Prefecture, where he was asked again about the nuclear sewage treatment at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
He reiterated his stance on making decisions as soon as possible. "The number of storage tanks for nuclear sewage is increasing and the storage space is becoming more and more tense. In this situation, we should not always delay making decisions, and will make decisions responsibly at the right time. "But he did not give a clear deadline for the decision on the handling policy.
In October last year, the Japanese government basically set a policy to discharge nuclear sewage from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. This move was strongly opposed by fishery practitioners and many other people, forcing the Japanese government to postpone the decision on nuclear sewage treatment plans.
According to a report by the Asahi Shimbun in January, Tokyo Electric Power Company is now adding about 140 tons of "treated water" every day, and it is estimated that it will reach the upper limit of 1.37 million tons of storage tanks by September 2022.