South Korean environmental activists stage a rally near a building which houses the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on August 21, 2024 to demand Japan stop its dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. August 24 marks the one anniversary of Japan's controversial dumping. Photo: VCG

It has been one year since Japan began dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean despite broad opposition. So far, some 60,000 tons of water from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been discharged as part of Japan's 30-year program to dump around one million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean. 

The relentless dumping, the frequent leakage accidents, and the opaque handling of the situation in the past year have greatly tarnished the reputation of TEPCO and the Japanese government, eroding public trust and sparking much wider backlashes, observers said. 

Over the past year, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has released 60,000 tons of treated water from its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Asahi Shimbun reported on Saturday.

One day ahead of the first anniversary, which fell on Saturday, the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations of Japan reiterated its unchanged opposition against the dumping. 

In the event of a major accident or trouble in the future, the trust and understanding built up with fishermen and the public could be lost in an instant, said the group, urging Japanese government and TEPCO to bear this in mind, local media reported. 

The disposal of contaminated water has resulted in the cessation of many seafood imports from Japan by multiple countries, including China and Russia. 

During the past year, Japan has been calling on those countries to drop the ban, citing data from the ALPS-treated contaminated water that has met international standards. ALPS refers to the Advanced Liquid Processing System which treats the Fukushima water before it is discharged. 

In response to Japan's call to ease the seafood import restrictions, the Environment and Ecology Bureau of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said on Saturday on Facebook that considering the unprecedented length of time and scale of the discharge, coupled with the potential catastrophic consequences for marine ecology and food safety in the event of any mistakes, Hong Kong has taken preventive measures, including restricting imports of seafood and related products from the highest-risk areas in Japan.

Throughout the past year or so, multiple incidents related to the Fukushima nuclear power plant have occurred, with seven cases reported by the media, including employees needing to be hospitalized due to accidents and the nearby environment being polluted. The latest incident occurred only two weeks ago, with an average of about one incident every two months. Considering Japan's management and monitoring capability over the Fukushima plant and the serious consequences that may result in the future, it is necessary and scientific for Hong Kong to take practical measures to prevent it, the bureau said. 

"If the situation deteriorates, it is not ruled out that further measures may be necessary to enhance the protection of food safety in Hong Kong," said the Bureau.

In South Korea, opponents of the ocean dumping held a press conference outside the country's National Assembly on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the start of Japan's release of contaminated water, South Korean media reported.

In Japan, Japanese broadcaster NHK on Saturday aired a special documentary during prime time, with the aim of recovering the reputation of Japanese seafood, said Chang Yen-chiang, director of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea Research Institute of Dalian Maritime University, who arrived in Fukushima on Saturday for international meetings against the water dumping.

However, opposition voices continue to spread around the country with multiple cities and prefectures including Tokyo and Fukushima on Saturday witnessing protests to advocate for an end to the dumping.

"The ocean is the source of all life. We cannot dump radioactive materials into it for human convenience. Moreover, ocean creatures cannot raise their voices. It is only us humans who can raise our voices in opposition!" a representative from Japanese environmental NGO "Don't Contaminate the Oceans Anymore! Citizens' Council" told the Global Times.

The water dumping has also resulted in a lawsuit against the government and TEPCO, Chiyo Oda, one of the representatives of the plaintiff group, told the Global Times. 

Made up of fishing industry workers and ordinary residents, these 363 plaintiffs claim the controversial dumping has caused disruption to their livelihoods and is harmful to their health, according to the representative.

Also, people against the dumping from South Korea are calling to form a coalition with other countries to file an international suit against Japan, South Korean media reported.