Pacific islands urge Japan to delay release of Fukushima waste over contamination fears

FILE PHOTO: A Geiger counter shows a radiation level of 231 microsieverts per hour near the damaged No. 3 reactor building at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan March 1, 2021. Picture taken March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Sakura Murakami

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Pacific island nations are urging Japan to delay the release of water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant over fears fisheries will be contaminated, the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) said on Wednesday.

The Japanese government said last week that water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant could be released into the sea "around this spring or summer," raising concerns from island nations still grappling with the legacy of nuclear testing decades ago.