IAEA head defends green light for Fukushima water release
July 7, 2023
Rafael Grossi says approval for Japan's plan to release water from the Fukushima nuclear plant is "scientifically impeccable." But neighboring countries still have concerns.
Grossi earlier visited the Fukushima plant.Image: The Associated Press/REUTERS
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There could be no cross-border effect from Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water into the ocean, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Friday.
"Well, the 'transboundary-ness' if the word exists in English, the transboundary nature must be addressed. Our opinion is that given the degree, the dilution degree, and the dispersion, it could be the case that there is no transboundary effect at all," he said.
Grossi told the Reuters news agency in a seperate interview that while one or two of the team of international experts behind the report may have had concerns none raised their concerns with him directly.
"I heard that being said ... but again, what we have published is scientifically impeccable," Rafael said
Japan's nuclear regulator on Friday granted approval on Friday for utility TEPCO to start releasing the radioactive water.
What South Korea said about the Japanese plan
On Friday South Korea also announced its support for Japan's plan, saying it meets global safety standards.
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"Based on a review of the treatment plan of contaminated water presented by Japan, we have confirmed concentration of radioactive material meets standards for ocean discharge," South Korea's minister in the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Bang Moon-kyu, told a briefing in Seoul.
South Korea's assessment was based on independent reviews of Japan's plan by two of its nuclear watchdog agencies, expert site visits, and athereport from the IAEA, which indicated that the water would have a "negligible radiological impact to people and the environment."
Despite the assent for the plan, Bang said a South Korean ban on food and seafood products from the Fukushima region would remain in place.
Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung argued that the government should oppose the plan and bring the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Grossi was scheduled to visit South Korea for three days to explain the agency's findings.
He would meet with Foreign Minister Park Jin and Yoo, the head of the main nuclear regulatory body responsible for assessing Japan's plan.
The fishermen of Fukushima 12 years after the nuclear disaster
The Japanese energy company TEPCO wants to discharge more than one million tons of treated cooling water from the decommissioned nuclear power plant into the sea. Does this mean the end of fishing in the region?
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
The old man and the sea
Morning is already dawning as 71-year-old fisherman Haruo Ono unloads his catch at the small port of Shinchimachi. Ono, a third-generation fisherman, has been putting out to sea for half a century from Shinchimachi, just 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where one of the world's worst nuclear disasters occurred in 2011.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Fishing and surviving
While cleaning noodle fish, Ono remembers the day that changed everything: On March 11, 2011, a magnitude nine earthquake triggered huge tsunami waves on Japan's east coast. The fisherman survived on his boat, but his home on land was destroyed. He lost a younger brother. The tsunami also hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant, triggering explosions and a meltdown.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Fishing in contaminated waters
The radiation released during the reactor disaster brought the fishing industry in the region to a complete standstill. After 12 years, there are signs of a slight recovery, and fish prices are slowly picking up again. Ono finds the plans of the energy company TEPCO to discharge the contaminated water into the sea again "unbearable." "We have to go back to square one again," he fears.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Watery future
The countless water tanks on the site of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are a bone of contention. According to the authorities, the tanks must be removed before reconstruction. The water was mainly used to cool the reactors after the disaster.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Dispute over cooling water
A TEPCO employee holds a sample of treated water up to the camera. The water is treated, filtered and diluted. TEPCO and the government claim it is now safe. However, it contains traces of tritium. Although the radioactive isotope is considered relatively harmless, fishermen fear that discharging the water into the sea will once again destroy their business.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Everything under control?
Energy company TEPCO and the Tokyo government cite radiation testing standards that are more stringent than those of other countries that also discharge treated water. The release was also approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "We have the equipment to make the water safe," TEPCO spokesman Tomohiko Mayuzum told Reuters news agency.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Fish farming in the decommissioned nuclear power plant
To prove how harmless the treated water is, TEPCO is breeding flounder in tanks at the decommissioned Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Toshihiro Wada of Fukushima University can understand the fishermen's concerns: TEPCO's announcement to drain the contaminated water is "unfortunate" for the region's just-recovering fisheries, he said.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
A matter of survival
Before the sale, fisherman Haruo Ono pours his catch into a water tank. He is angry with TEPCO: "The ocean isn’t a garbage can," he says in an interview with the Reuters news agency and asks: "Why release water into the Fukushima ocean, why not Tokyo or Osaka?" The people of the region have already suffered enough, he says, and now they are being made to suffer even more.
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
Creative reconstruction
Fisherman Ono on the spot where his house used to stand. After the tsunami, the area was turned into a park. Even though his new home is further inland, the 71-year old will be "working at sea" until his death. His outlook for for the future of fishing is bleak. "What about the kids in primary and junior school?," he asks. "It’s way too unstable for them to make a living from this."
Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
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China tightens scrutiny of Japanese food
China will tighten its scrutiny on food from Japan and maintain curbs on some Japanese imports, Beijing said on Friday.
China had expressed opposition to the action, and said it will maintain bans on the import of food from 10 Japanese prefectures for safety reasons.
"The Japanese side still has many problems in the legitimacy of sea discharge, the reliability of purification equipment and the perfection of monitoring programmes," Chinese customs said.
The customs department added it will continuously strengthen the detection and monitoring of radioactive substances to ensure the safety of food imported from Japan.
