Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with reporters on Aug. 18 in Washington after his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. (Keishi Nishimura)

WASHINGTON--Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appears to be just days away from making a decision on when to authorize the release of treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Meeting with reporters here Aug. 18, Kishida said he would visit the nuclear plant site on Aug. 20.

“The central government has arrived at the final stage for making a decision (about discharging the treated water),” Kishida said. “I want to confirm that all measures are being implemented prior to the release of the water.”

Kishida said he planned to meet with top executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant, to confirm they are still committed to moving ahead with decommissioning of the plant and rebuilding the area. He added that he wanted to pass on his personal views on the issue to company executives.

While he refrained from giving a specific date for the start of the water discharge, Kishida said, “The government as a whole will make a decision after confirming the circumstances related to securing safety and dealing with possible negative publicity.”

Plans are being firmed up for Kishida to meet Aug. 21 with the chairman of JF Zengyoren, the national federation of fisheries cooperatives, and high-ranking officials of the Fukushima prefectural fisheries cooperatives association to win their support for the planned discharge and assuage their fears it will impact fisheries resources in the area.

Both fisheries organizations are still opposed to the discharge of the treated water and Kishida is expected to explain the results of the assessment of the planned discharge released recently by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said the plan would have a negligible impact on people and the environment.

A meeting of pertinent Cabinet ministers could be held as early as Aug. 22 to make the formal decision on when to begin discharging the water.

At a joint news conference held here Aug. 18 after Kishida met with U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Yoon said, “Whether the treated water is discharged as planned will require a transparent and responsible inspection framework set up by the international community, including South Korea and Japan.”

Yoon added that South Korea trusted the results of the IAEA assessment.

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