Japan is planning to release cleaned water within the next 48 hours in response to the nuclear tragedy at Fukushima
In spite of protests from its neighbors, Japan is going ahead with plans to begin releasing radioactive water that has been treated from the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear facility into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The decision was reached some weeks after the nuclear inspector of the UN gave its approval to the scheme. Since the facility was wrecked by the tsunami in 2011, around 1.34 million metric tons of water have accumulated. This amount of water is sufficient to fill 500 pools of Olympic size. Following filtration and diluting, the water will be made available to the public after a period of thirty years. After a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that the authorities will make a request for the plant's operator to "promptly prepare" for the disposal to begin on August 24 if the weather and sea conditions are suitable. After Mr. Kishida's visit to the plant on Sunday, rumors began to circulate that the release was about to