Tokyo, Oct 16 (AFP/APP):Japan will release more than a million tonnes of treated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea in a decades-long operation, reports said Friday, despite strong opposition from local fishermen. The release of the water, which has been filtered to reduce radioactivity, is likely to start in 2022 at the earliest, said national dailies the Nikkei, the Yomiuri, and other local media. The decision ends years of debate over how to dispose of the liquid that includes water used to cool the power station hit by a massive tsunami in 2011. A government panel said earlier this year that releasing the water into the sea or evaporating it were both “realistic options”. As of last month, there were 1.23 million tonnes of waste water at the facility, the Nikkei reported. Environmental activists have expressed strong opposition to the proposals, and fishermen and farmers have voiced fear that consumers will shun seafood and produce from the region. South Korea, which bans imports of seafood from the area, has also repeatedly voiced concern about the environmental impact. Japan’s government has been deliberating the issue for more than three years, but a decision is becoming urgent as … Continue reading Japan to release treated Fukushima water into sea: reports