Fukushima plan worries spark appeal

Public backlash

The discharge plan is also facing an angry backlash among the public, especially those in the fishing industry, who felt uneasy about the decision.

The dumping plan is suspected of violating the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, as well as the 1996 protocol to the convention, Masahide Kimura, a member of a Japanese anti-nuclear campaign group, told Xinhua News Agency.

The plan also violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as Japan's foreign ministry admitted that the area where the discharge would occur does not cover inland waters, Kimura said.

Kimura believes that the spreading of radioactive materials should not be allowed, as storage is the only means of prevention, and efforts should be prioritized to stop the inflow of groundwater and prevent the continued increase in the contaminated water.

"The opposition to the discharge of treated water into the ocean has not changed in the slightest," Masanobu Sakamoto, president of the National Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Japan, said in a statement on Friday. Sakamoto demanded a serious response from the government.

                                                                                       Xinhua - Agencies