TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- As Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea marked its third anniversary on Monday, the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations (JF Zengyoren) has reiterated its opposition to the controversial operation.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Masanobu Sakamoto, head of JF Zengyoren, said the group's position had not changed, stressing that it remains opposed to the discharge of wastewater without the understanding of fishermen and the public.
Sakamoto noted that some countries and regions continue to impose restrictions on imports of Japanese seafood, while products such as sea cucumbers have been affected by falling prices.
"The markets that have been lost have yet to fully recover, and there are concerns over whether they can be recovered at all," Sakamoto said, underscoring the serious challenges facing the fishing industry.
He also said government support measures were "insufficient for fishermen."
Over the past three years, 22 rounds of ocean discharge have been conducted, involving around 173,000 tons of wastewater, which contained tritium, a radioactive substance that cannot be removed by purification equipment, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company.
Struck by a 9-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
Despite concerns and opposition from the international community, Japan unilaterally launched the ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Aug. 24, 2023. ■
