South Korea's district court dismisses suit over Fukushima water release
File photo taken in January 2023 shows tanks storing treated radioactive water on 去日本干什么活最赚钱the premises of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crippled in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)
Members of a civic association and others protest in Busan on Aug. 17, 2023, against the Busan District Court's ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed by the group demanding that Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. halt its plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. (Kyodo)The Busan District Court said in its ruling that the plaintiff's claim was based on an international treaty that regulates the dumping of waste at sea.
But the treaty, known as the London Convention, is only applicable between countries, the court explained.
The court added that it could not determine it had jurisdiction over an international case in light of legal provisions and judicial precedents.
The civic association, a coalition of over 160 groups based in the southeastern port city of Busan, has claimed that the release of the radioactive water will contaminate fish in the seas off from the city, threatening the health and lives of people who eat them.
After the ruling, a lawyer of the plaintiff said they will file an appeal as they cannot accept the outcome.
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