Fukushima water release stokes fresh fears for fisherman

Fisherman Haruo Ono, 71, untangles nets after returning from work at sea for the night, at Tsurishihama fishing port in Shinchimachi, about 55 km away from the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 1, 2023. The Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), which runs the crippled nuclear power station, plans to soon start releasing into the sea more than a million tons of radioactive water from the plant that was used to cool the reactors in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 tsunami that set off explosions and meltdowns, released radiation over a wide swathe and shut down fishing for more than a year due to worries about radiation. "It's been 12 years and fish prices are rising, we're finally hoping to really get down to business," Haruo said. "Now they're talking about releasing the water and we're going to have to go back to square one again. It's unbearable." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon SEARCH "HOON FUKUSHIMA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

SHINCHIMACHI, Japan (Reuters) - A chilly dawn paints the sky magenta and purple as Japanese fisherman Haruo Ono unloads his catch of flounder, crab and sea bass from his boat at the small port of Shinchimachi.

A third-generation fisherman, Ono, 71, has been putting to sea for half a century from Shinchimachi, 55 km (34 miles) north of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the scene in 2011 of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.