Japan releases Fukushima water into the ocean, prompting criticism, seafood bans

Approved two years ago by the Japanese government and greenlighted by the UN nuclear watchdog last month, the discharge is a key step in a dauntingly long and difficult process of decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Japan on Thursday started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, a polarising move that drew fresh and fierce criticism from China as being “selfish and irresponsible”.