Fishers Seek Full Govt Responsibility for TEPCO Water Safety

Jiji Press

15:59 JST, June 23, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — A fisheries group approved a resolution Thursday urging the government to take full responsibility for ensuring the safety of water to be released into the ocean from a nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

The special resolution of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, known as Zengyoren, calls on the government to take full responsibility for ensuring the safety and continuing support for fishers over the planned discharge of treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s meltdown-struck power plant.

Zengyoren’s leader, Masanobu Sakamoto, met with industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and made the request directly.

In the resolution, adopted unanimously at a general meeting, the association said there is no change at all in its opposition to the water release plan while taking “seriously” the government’s efforts so far, including briefings held for fishers and the establishment of a ¥50 billion support fund.

The resolution demanded the government’s full involvement, saying that “it is impossible to wipe out fishers’ worries over the future.”

Under the government’s plan, TEPCO will start discharging the treated water around summer if the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms it is safe to do so in its planned final report due out as early as this month.