TV screen shows a news report on the release of the treated radioactive water of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Aug 24, 2023 in Tokyo. (PHOTO / AP)

SYDNEY - Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare has condemned Japan's decision to start releasing the nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The prime minister of the Pacific island country made the remarks while attending the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Leaders' Summit in Vanuatu's capital city of Port Vila, along with leaders of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia's ruling party.

A press release from the Prime Minister's Press Secretariat on Thursday said Sogavare "delivered a strong statement against Japan's decision to release nuclear treated water into our ocean which has an impact on our people, ocean, economy and livelihood."

Sogavare was not only the MSG leader opposing Tokyo's decision announced on Tuesday to start releasing the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

A press release from the Prime Minister's Press Secretariat on Thursday said Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare "delivered a strong statement against Japan's decision to release nuclear treated water into our ocean which has an impact on our people, ocean, economy and livelihood"

Leaders at the MSG meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday will decide on a number of important matters concerning the MSG region, including Japan's ocean discharge plan, according to the press secretariat.

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Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Matai Seremaiah said Wednesday the MSG leaders were pushing for a declaration for the whole MSG group to denounce Japan putting anything into the Pacific Ocean until they are absolutely clear that there's no danger.

Seremaiah said Japan's decision to start the ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater needed robust actions, urging polluters to "seriously consider other options."

Japan's ocean discharge plan of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater has so far been met with strong opposition and criticism both at home and abroad, including from Pacific island countries whose economies rely heavily on the fishing industry.

On Tuesday, the Japanese government announced the discharge would start from Thursday. The Fukushima plant has stored more than 1.3 million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater, and the discharge is planned to continue for more than 30 years, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the plant.

Earlier on Thursday, live video provided by TEPCO showed the ocean discharge of the first batch of the plant's radioactive wastewater has started.

TEPCO said it plans to carry out the first round of release over 17 days to discharge 7,800 tons of the radioactive wastewater.

READ MORE: Pacific leaders condemn Japan's nuke water dumping decision

Hit by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns and generated a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel.