Discharge move irresponsible, FM says

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that Japan's test operation is "one step closer" to carrying out the ocean discharge plan, which is irresponsible and unpopular.

Ocean discharge is neither the only, nor the safest and best solution to handle nuclear-contaminated water, Wang said, adding that Japan has chosen the plan simply to save costs.

"This equals shifting the risk of nuclear contamination to the whole of humanity," he said at a daily briefing.

Also, Japan has neither proven ocean discharge is safe, nor has it provided sufficient evidence and data to determine what the release of more than 1 million tons of nuclear-contaminated water will bring to the environment, food safety and people's health in countries around the Pacific Ocean, Wang said.

"Statistics released by Japan show that nearly 70 percent of the nuclear-contaminated water it has treated fails to meet the standards. Yet, Japan has coined a pseudoscientific word of 'treated water' to cover up the risk imposed by ocean discharge," he said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's task force visited Japan in late May on a final mission to review the planned discharge. The organization said it will issue a comprehensive report about the plan "in due course".

Wang warned Japan on Tuesday not to use the report as a "pass", saying that due to limited mandate, the IAEA's task force hasn't reviewed any alternative solution to the ocean discharge plan.

"No final report shall be used as an excuse for Japan to dump the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean," he said.