China is stoking anger over Japan’s release of nuclear wastewater

On August 24th the government of Japan began releasing water into the ocean. This is not just any water, mind you, but treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was destroyed 12 years ago by a tsunami. Japan has dealt with the situation carefully, putting the liquid through an advanced filtration and dilution process. It still contains a potentially harmful radionuclide called tritium. But experts say the levels are so low that this is not a concern. Japan wants to release more than a million tonnes of the water over the next 30 years. Many scientists back the plan, as does the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.