Japan has decided to begin discharging wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean on Thursday.

At a ministerial meeting on Tuesday, Tokyo decided to release the water, treated through the plant’s Advanced Liquid Processing System(ALPS) and then diluted with seawater, off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture from Thursday so long as there is no weather change.

Following the meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the endorsement of the International Atomic Energy Agency's scientific response by other countries has led to an expansion of the international community's understanding about the process.

The discharge would begin two years and four months after the Yoshihide Suga Cabinet officially decided on the release plan in April 2021 and more than 12 years since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that battered eastern Japan.

As of June this year, there were over one-point-34 million tons of wastewater at the Fukushima facility, which will require around 30 years to be discharged.