The International Atomic Energy Agency has approved Japan’s plan to dump over 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The water has been in storage following the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster. This is IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.

Rafael Grossi: “It’s not the IAEA decision; it’s a decision by the government of Japan. If the government decides to proceed with it, the IAEA will be permanently here reviewing, monitoring, assessing this activity for decades to come.”

The plan has drawn ire from China and South Korea, as well as smaller Pacific Island nations, environmentalists and a large section of people in Japan. The treated water still contains tritium, a byproduct of nuclear fission, which has been linked to cancer.