Palau president visits Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr has called on Japan to raise the transparency of the decommissioning process at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Whipps made the statement on Tuesday in a meeting

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Japan, Australia, U.S to fund undersea cable connection in Micronesia to counter China’s influence

Japan announced Tuesday that it joined the United States and Australia in signing a US$95 million undersea cable project that will connect East Micronesia island nations to improve networks in the Indo-Pacific region

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Japan sends seawater into tunnel built for Fukushima nuke wastewater discharge

Japan has started sending seawater into an underwater tunnel built to release nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, local media reported on Tuesday. Tokyo

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IAEA: Japan’s measurements of Fukushima treated water accurate and precise

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS), has demonstrated its capabilities for accurate and precise measurements of the radionuclides present in

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Fukushima seafood businesses adapt as treated water release looms

With the release of treated water from the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture looming, embattled seafood businesses in the region fear fresh reputational damage to their products, Takaki Tominaga writes. By

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Japan’s fukushima water release plan falls short of full G7 support

Japan has failed to secure unanimous support from the Group of Seven (G7) for its planned release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean later this year due to opposition

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New images from inside Fukushima reactor spark safety worry

Images captured by a robotic probe inside one of the three melted reactors at Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant showed exposed steel bars in the main supporting structure and parts of its thick

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China urges Japan to heed concerns on water disposal

China urges Japan to take seriously the legitimate concerns of all parties, and dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, open, transparent and safe manner, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin

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Guam, Saipan anticipate surge in travel demand from Japan

Slowing reemerging from their Covid-triggered hiatus, Japanese travelers are getting ready to board the plane again, with Guam and Saipan on top of their destination list this summer. The promising summer travel demand

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Japan insists release of Fukushima ‘treated’ water is safe

Almost 12 years have passed since the strongest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history resulted in a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people along its north-east coast. As the country prepares to mark the March 11

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Pacific leaders address wastewater plan in Japan this week

Pacific leaders are in Japan this week meeting with their Japanese counterparts on the Fukushima wastewater plans. Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and Marshall

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Transparency has eased Fukushima water concerns: Panuelo

Micronesian President David Panuelo said Friday that Japan’s “transparency” over its intention to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean has helped ease the Pacific

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Japan offers to meet Pacific leaders over ocean dumping plan

A month away from the expected discharge of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, Japan has offered to meet a high-level delegation from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in its attempt to assure that the

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Japan eyes delay of Fukushima plant water release

Japan has revised the timing of a planned release to the sea of treated but still radioactive wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to “around spring or summer,” indicating a delay from the initial target

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Opinion: Japan must work with the Pacific to find a solution to the Fukushima water release issue – otherwise we face disaster

Over the past 20 months, Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) members have been in dialogue with the government of Japan on its proposed plans to release over a million tonnes of contaminated nuclear wastewater into

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Impact of Japan’s wastewater plan will be ‘devastating’: Moss-Christian

The newly appointed executive director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) tasked to take on the cause of protecting the world’s tuna stocks has raised alarm by Japan’s plan to release

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U.S., Japan back Australia’s Digicel Pacific purchase

The U.S. and Japan have announced they will back the Australian government’s unprecedented move to fund Telstra’s purchase of the Pacific’s largest telco, stumping up around $150 million (US$100

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Japan’s recycling town: Can it inspire the Pacific?

When the residents of Osaki in southern Japan were first told about new plans for waste management and recycling in their small town, some were unhappy. “They threw cans at us,” said the Assistant Section Chief and

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WOTA: A Japanese Solution to Water Shortages?

A Tokyo-based start-up working on small-scale water recycling systems hopes they may help solve water shortages in small island communities. WOTA’s technology is a response to what it describes as a ‘looming

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Decarbonising transport: hydrogen fuel is next

While electric vehicles are only just entering Pacific Island markets, Tokyo is working towards an ambitious plan that would see a decarbonised society with net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Increasing the number of

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‘If only we had learned from our ancestors’

(Natori, Japan) When a magnitude-9  earthquake hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011, businessman Naomitsu Kakui was driving in Sendai City.  The shaking was so intense, he stopped where he was,  got out of his car

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The Pacific at the UN: climate and Japan wastewater

Now it’s time for U.S. talks The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretary General, Henry Puna, says Pacific leaders stood strong at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA77) in New York, raising issues

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PNG offers gas field priority to Japan for energy security

Papua New Guinea offered Japanese companies favoured access to new gas field development opportunities and liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing projects in trade talks on Tuesday that focused on energy security, PNG

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More sound scientific proof needed on Fukushima water: Pacific leaders

The President of the Federated States of Micronesia denounced at the United Nations last Thursday Japan’s decision to discharge what he called nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power

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