China bans seafood from Japan as Fukushima nuclear plant releases treated wastewater into ocean

The water release starts more than 12 years after the March 2011 nuclear meltdowns, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Transcript

00:00 Fukushima's Daiichi nuclear power plant has begun discharging treated and diluted radioactive

00:07 wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

00:09 The decision comes after the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, approved the release,

00:15 saying the radiological impact would be negligible.

00:19 But many people, including fishermen in the region, fear that discharging the treated

00:23 water will affect their livelihoods.

00:25 Greenpeace is warning that the filtration process is flawed and that an immense quantity

00:30 of radioactive material will be dispersed into the sea over the coming decades.

00:35 And China imposed a ban on Japanese seafood.

00:38 While South Korea has voiced outrage.

00:41 It's just over 12 years since a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's northeastern coast

00:46 and caused three reactors at the plant to go into meltdown.

00:51 Radioactive water has accumulated at the site ever since, hampering the daunting and delicate

00:55 task of removing the deadly toxic melted debris from the reactors.

00:59 �

01:00 (dramatic music)

01:03 (whooshing)