TOKYO, Sep 2 The Japanese government intends to allocate another 20 billion yen ($137 million) to help fishermen and fisheries after China banned the import of Japanese seafood due to the beginning of the discharge of water from the emergency Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant into the ocean, the Kyodo news agency reported.
Even before the release of water began, the government announced measures to support the fishing industry in the event of reputational damage worth 80 billion yen (about $552 million).
The new aid package will be aimed at reducing the damage from the measures taken by China. In particular, the purchase and storage of scallop, the fishery of which is especially dependent on exports to China, is envisaged, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) will be tasked with finding new markets, and it is also planned to re-equip processing plants inside Japan with new equipment.
The new package is expected to be announced early next week.
On August 24, Japan began dumping into the ocean water accumulated as a result of the cooling of the emergency reactors of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, in which nuclear fuel melted. Water undergoes preliminary treatment in the ALPS system, as a result of which the radioactivity of more than 60 types of radionuclides is reduced to below normal parameters. The exception is tritium. Before discharging water into the ocean, it is first diluted with sea water, bringing the concentration of tritium to 1,500 becquerels per liter, which is 40 times less than the norms adopted in Japan for draining water into the sea from the operation of operating nuclear power plants – 60,000 becquerels. It will take 30 years to release this water into the ocean. The IAEA said that these plans are fully in line with international standards, but there are strong fears in Japan that this could damage the image of Japanese agricultural and fishery products. Russia and China also expressed concern over the decision of the Japanese authorities. China has completely banned the import of Japanese seafood.
