The government has released its interim measures for battling harmful rumors expected to stem from the release of treated radioactive water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Announced on Tuesday, the measures include establishing a fund to buy fishery products at the government's expense on a temporary basis if demand falls, as well as the dissemination of information to prevent harmful rumors.
The government will hear opinions from people and industries concerned before compiling a detailed action plan at the end of this year at earliest.
According to the interim measures, the government will buy seafood that can be kept frozen and store it temporarily, while helping widen sales of seafood that cannot be kept frozen. If these measures do not help prevent losses stemming from harmful rumors, the government will instruct TEPCO to provide compensation.
The government will also promote the safety of marine products caught in affected areas. It will release scientific evidence from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will monitor the safety of the discharged water, while planning events in major consumer zones, such as the Tokyo metropolitan area, to promote the safety of fishery products. It will also make presentations to distributors, in a bid to keep them from underbuying such products.
Methods will be devised to effectively stress the products' safety via the internet, while identifying and analyzing any information online that could lead to losses from harmful rumors.
The government plans to release treated radioactive water into the ocean in the spring of 2023. The water will be purified via special equipment, and it is not believed to be harmful to fish or shellfish if it is sufficiently diluted with seawater.
However, local fishermen are deeply concerned that harmful rumors could push down demand for seafood. There is a compensation system for losses related to the nuclear accident, but deciding on the amount to be paid takes time. The government hopes to win their understanding by preemptively deciding on measures to combat harmful rumors.
"We take the details [of the measures] seriously. We will fully prepare to curb rumors and provide compensation for possible harm," TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa told reporters Tuesday after attending a meeting of related ministers.
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