Twelve years on since the nuclear catastrophe triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami, workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeast Japan are preparing to release treated wastewater into the sea, despite local opposition. Operator TEPCO says the water has been filtered to remove most radioactive elements, and calls the release both safe and necessary. "We don't plan to dump the water all in one go, but will release a maximum of 500 tonnes a day from the total 1.37 million tonnes of ALPS-treated water. It will take 30 to 40 years, the time required for decommissioning the plant," says Kenichi Takahara, a risk communicator at TEPCO. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES