Contaminated water heading for sea

TOKYO－Nearly a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Japanese government has decided to release contaminated water from the destroyed plant into the sea, local media reports said on Friday, with a formal announcement expected to be made later this month.

The decision is expected to irritate neighboring countries like South Korea, which has already stepped up radiation tests of food from Japan, and further devastate the fishing industry in Fukushima that has battled against such a move for years.

The disposal of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has been a long-standing problem for Japan as it proceeds with a decades-long decommissioning project. More than one million tons of contaminated water is currently stored in huge tanks at the facility.