Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday that his government has decided to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power into the Pacific Ocean amid domestic and international opposition. Suga made the announcement after convening a meeting to formalise plans to release the radioactive water accumulated at the nuclear plant, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been generating massive amount of radiation-tainted water after being battered by the massive earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2011, resulting in the world`s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. The plant`s operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said it will take around two years for the release to start.