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It's been 12 years since the Great
East Japan Earthquake caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Japanese government says it will flush contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea as planned this year. It is said that it is safe after the purification facility, but the residents of Japan as well as neighboring countries are very worried.

Correspondent Park Sang-jin visited Fukushima.

< reporter> Soma City,
a representative fishing village in Fukushima Prefecture, located about 1 kilometers from the
Fukushima First Nuclear Power Plant.

The waters near the nuclear plant are the fishing area of the Somash Fishermen's Association.

Fishermen are worried that the planned discharge of contaminated water this year will affect seafood such as flounder and mackerel.

[Konno/Somashi ermine: On what basis does the government judge that we understand (discharge)? No matter how many times I ask the officials, they have never answered.]

It is even said that Fukushima Prefecture will be abandoned in Japan due to the planned release for more than 40 years.

[Konno/Somashi fishermen: Two or three years after the release starts, there will be no nationwide attention. The last thing left is our Fukushima.]

The reaction in inland areas is also not much different.

Futaba Town is 30 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

After the nuclear accident, evacuation orders were issued for the entire village, and housing has been allowed since August last year, the first time in 2 years.

We are preparing for a revival by building new subway stations and building housing complexes, but we are worried that it will be recognized as a dangerous area again due to the discharge of contaminated water.

[Tanimoto/Fukushima residents: The government has promised to take the material decontamination from Fukushima to other areas. Why is decontamination by-products released into Fukushima?]

The Japanese government plans to purify the radioactive contaminated water and discharge it into the sea through an undersea tunnel for about 3 km.

Tunnel construction is almost 5% complete.

After going through the purification facility, most radioactive substances are filtered, and the remaining tritium is mixed with seawater and diluted to a concentration less than 11/8 of the standard value, so there is no problem.

However, in a survey of residents of more than 1 villages in four prefectures around the Fukushima nuclear plant, 90 percent said that the government's measures against the discharge of contaminated water were insufficient.

Twelve years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, concerns have been raised about the contaminated water from nuclear plants that will be discharged into the sea.

(Video Interview: Moon Hyun-jin)