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According to Yoo Guk-hee, the head of South Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Japan’s plan to release radioactive water from its Fukushima plant has been deemed safe and compliant with international standards. This statement was made during a press briefing in Seoul, where Yoo Guk-hee expressed confidence in the plan’s adherence to emission standards and various international standards.
SEOUL, July 7 (UPI) — The South Korean government task force has recently announced that Japan’s initiative to release radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant complies with international safety standards. This assessment aligns with the evaluation carried out by the United Nations’ atomic watchdog earlier this week.
“After thoroughly reviewing the implementation plan presented by Tokyo Electric Power Company, we have verified its adherence to emission standards, targets, and diverse international standards,” stated Yoo Guk-hee, the chairman of South Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, during a joint government press briefing in Seoul.
Furthermore, South Korea dispatched a team of experts to inspect the Fukushima plant in May and conducted its own assessment of Japan’s plan to treat and release over 1 million metric tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
Earlier this week, the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a two-year safety examination, concluding that the water release would have minimal radiological impact on both people and the environment.
The South Korean government expressed its support for the IAEA’s findings, as Bang Moon-kyu, South Korea’s minister in the Office for Government Policy Coordination, emphasized the insignificance of the impact on South Korea’s waters.
However, the ban on seafood imports from the Fukushima region, which was imposed by South Korea in 2013, will not be lifted.
Ever since the devastating tsunami in March 2011 that led to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, approximately 1.3 million metric tons of water (largely used to cool Fukushima’s three overheating reactors) has accumulated on the site. This water has been treated using the advanced liquid processing system (ALPS), which removes all radioactivity except for tritium, a hydrogen isotope. Prior to discharging the water into the Pacific Ocean, Japan will dilute it to ensure the tritium level meets regulatory standards.
Although Japan’s release plan was initially announced in early 2021, it has sparked concerns among environmental organizations, the fishing industry, and neighboring countries. In South Korea, opposition lawmakers held an overnight sit-in at the National Assembly to protest the plan and criticize the government’s response, claiming that the decision lacked proper consultation with the public. The public sentiment in South Korea remains strongly against the release, as evidenced by a recent joint survey by Hankook Ilbo and Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers, where 84% of respondents expressed opposition to the plan.
China has also been consistently vocal in its opposition to Japan’s plan. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed concerns over the uncertainties and criticized Japan’s decision to proceed with the discharge despite international opposition, stating that it reveals Japan’s selfishness and arrogance. In response to the Fukushima discharge plan, China’s General Administration of Customs announced a ban on food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures and increased monitoring for radioactive substances.
The Director-General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, who visited the Fukushima site and met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this week to present the agency’s report, is scheduled to arrive in South Korea for a three-day visit on Friday.
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