TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will visit the Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday ahead of a final decision on when to begin releasing wastewater from the wrecked facility.
The government is at the final stage of when it has to make a decision,” Kishida said on Friday in the U.S. His comments were aired by public broadcaster NHK.
The International Atomic Energy Agency last month published a report greenlighting the release of radioactive water that Japan says it need to pump into the sea because it is running out of space to store it on site.
The decision has been criticized by China and is opposed by some citizens’ groups in Japan and South Korea.
Japan says it will remove most radioactive elements from the water except for tritium, a hydrogen isotope that must be diluted because it is difficult to filter.
Kishida was in the U.S. for a trilateral meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Sonali Paul)
