Japan's decision to release nuclear waste water into the Pacific Ocean for the next 30 years has been condemned by a Pacific Alliance group of community members, academics, legal experts, ngos and activists, who recently called on New Zealand and the Pacific region to take action to stop Japan
More than 15,000 people died when three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant went into meltdown after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.  The government says it will take up to 40 years to clean up the radioactive contamination.  

A working group has also been formed in recent days to address the planned emissions, following the Nuclear Connections Across Oceania Conference at Otago University in New Zealand last month.  

Dr Karly Burch, from the University of Otago's Centre for Sustainability, says many people may be surprised to hear that the Japanese government has instructed Tepco to discharge more than 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive waste water into the ocean from next year.  

Birch said they had called on Tepco to stop its emissions scheme and the New Zealand government to "step up its opposition" to Japan.  "We hope for a transparent and accountable consultation process involving Japanese civil society groups, Pacific leaders and regional organizations.  These processes must be guided by affected communities within Japan and throughout the Pacific region to promote fair and open public deliberation and rigorous scientific debate."