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Politics

Politics

Fukushima: UN nuclear watchdog authorizes water release

Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen from a... Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen from a beach in Namie, about 7 km away from the power plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo
Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen from a... Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen from a beach in Namie, about 7 km away from the power plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo

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Despite opposition from Beijing and some local people, the U.N.’s nuclear inspector approved Japan’s plan to discharge cleaned radioactive water from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima plant into the ocean on Tuesday.

After a two-year examination, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found Japan’s plans met worldwide safety standards and would have “negligible radiological impact to people and the environment.”
“This is a very special night,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before handing him the final report in a big blue folder.

Grossi later told reporters at the Japan National Press Club, where a small group of demonstrators received him, that he would calm worries and station IAEA employees at the Fukushima facility to monitor the discharge.

“We have to recognise that such a thing has not happened before,” he added, adding that Japan will decide the release, which would last 30 to 40 years.

The Japanese government treated the water used to cool the Fukushima plant’s fuel rods after the earthquake and tsunami.

The national nuclear regulatory board for Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) (9501.T) may approve the 2021 plan this week, although Japan has not set a date for water release.

Japanese fishing unions have opposed the plan, saying it would damage reputations after numerous nations banned some Japanese food items after the 2011 disaster.

Since the proposal, the plant’s neighbors have signed over 250,000 petitions.

Beijing has been the largest critic of the marine environment and public health hazards.

“Japan will continue to provide explanations to the Japanese people and the international community in a sincere manner based on scientific evidence and with high level of transparency,” Kishida told Grossi.

Beijing’s embassy in Japan said the IAEA report could not be a “pass” for the water leak and asked for its suspension.

Japan claims the water has been purified to remove most radioactive components except tritium, a hydrogen isotope that is hard to separate. Before being released into the Pacific, treated water will be diluted below international tritium limits.

Japanese authorities told foreign media in China last month that tritium levels in treated water are lower than in wastewater produced by nuclear facilities worldwide, including China.

The officials said Beijing had rejected their repeated attempts to convey Tokyo’s position based on science.

China called Japan’s tritium comparison of treated and wastewater “completely confusing concepts and misleading public opinion” on Tuesday.

“If the Japanese side is bent on going its own way, it must bear all the consequences,” the Chinese foreign ministry stated, adding that it “regrets” IAEA’s “hasty release” of its report.

Grossi visits Fukushima on Wednesday. After Japan, he will go to South Korea, where people buy sea salt and other products before the water discharge.

Media reports say he would visit New Zealand and the Cook Islands to ease concerns over the plan.


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