Japan has begun discharging treated cooling water from the ruins of the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, the operator Tepco said on Thursday.

Despite the opposition from local fishermen, environmentalists and the Chinese government, Tepco dispatched the first batch of treated water into the Pacific Ocean through a special one-kilometre-long tunnel.

On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed that the three-decade plan to release the water would kick off on Thursday as a matter that “cannot be postponed.’’

Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority had recently given the green light for the release.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), dumping the water does not pose any danger to humans or the environment.

Japan’s fishing associations, however, feared that the reputation of their products would be further damaged.

China had voiced a strong opposition to the plan and called on Japan to cancel the release of the treated radioactive water planned for discharge on Thursday.

It blasted the beginning of the 30-year discharge plan.

“We have made serious démarches to Japan and asked it to stop this wrongdoing,’’ a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “To forcibly start the ocean discharge is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act in disregard of the global public interest.”

China added, “Japan has turned itself into a saboteur of the ecological system and polluter of the global marine environment.”

(NAN)