Japan to start Fukushima water release within weeks – report

Release of contaminated water from the damaged nuclear plant has been criticised by fishers and countries in the region

Japan plans to start releasing treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean as soon as late August, Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily reported on Monday, citing unnamed government sources.

The release is likely to come shortly after the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, meets the US president, Joe Biden, and the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, next week in the US, where Kishida planned to explain the safety of the water in question, it reported.