Fukushima hopes Olympic torch will shine light on recovery

Japanese tech giant Toshiba has unveiled an underwater robot which will be sent to the Fukushima nuclear plant next July. The 13cm x 30cm robot is controlled remotely and will be sent into the nuclear reactor 3 to collect information on radioactive fuel residue.

The Olympic torch relay that begins in Japan this month will start from Fukushima, emphasising what the government dubs the "Reconstruction Olympics", but not everyone in the region will be cheering.

The Olympic flame is scheduled to arrive on Friday from Greece. The torch will travel across Japan from March 26 until July 24, the scheduled opening of the Olympics in Tokyo.

The water could be released as early as 2022, much to the disapproval of neighboring countries and environmentalists. A team of experts said all but one radioactive isotopes have been removed from the water.

Authorities said there were no irregularities at any nuclear facilities after the 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Fukushima Prefecture.

Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan's TEPCO continues its battle to decommission the crippled plant. One of the greatest challenges the operator is facing is to remove fuel rods which melted and accumulated at the bottom of three reactors after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered the biggest nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. AFP visits the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to report on the conditions on site.

It is 10 years since an earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Japan is holding nationwide commemorations to remember the thousands who died.

Environmental groups say the crippled nuclear plant's decommissioning effort is hopeless. Some local people fear it is not safe to return to communities that were beneath the radioactive plume.

When the Tokyo Olympics torch relay kicks off in Fukushima on Thursday, runners are hoping it will show the world the area is "moving forward", a decade after the 2011 disaster. The pandemic might have overshadowed a Games once billed as the "Recovery Olympics" after the earthquake and tsunami catastrophe, but Fukushima torchbearers say the relay can show their home in a new light.

The countdown to the Summer Olympics has begun. In a global pandemic, there is little enthusiasm for an event intended to celebrate the international spirit and world-class athleticism.

Japan will release more than a million tonnes of treated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says, despite concern from neighbouring countries and fierce opposition from local fishing communities.

The Japanese government has approved a controversial plan to release radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. South Korea expressed 'strong regret' over the decision.