Fukushima Disposal Plans Put Tokyo in Hot Water [View all]

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Japan’s plan to release more than 1 million tons of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean has set off a firestorm among neighboring countries and raised concern among international nuclear safety experts.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report last week that said the plan met international standards, though the atomic agency did not endorse or recommend the Japanese disposal idea. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Japan must make the final decision on whether to proceed with the water disposal plan, which is expected to start as early as August. The report assessed that the discharge would have “negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.” “We do not take sides,” Grossi told Reuters. “I’m not on the side of Japan or on the side of China or on the side of Korea. The standards apply to all the same way.”

A spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on July 7 that the IAEA’s report failed to address international concerns on the impact of treated wastewater on people and the environment, urging Japan to “give up using the IAEA report as the ‘greenlight’” and handle the contaminated water in a responsible way. The same day, China’s General Administration of Customs announced that it would continue its previous ban on imported food from Fukushima and nine other regions, as well as increase regulation of imported food from other parts of Japan.

Similar sentiments have festered in South Korea despite the current Korean administration’s support of the plan. Hundreds gathered in Seoul last weekend to protest against the Fukushima water disposal plan while opposition lawmakers spoke with Grossi in a tense meeting to voice their concerns. South Korea also plans to stick with its ban on all seafood imports from eight Japanese regions around Fukushima, which has been in place since 2013. Fish markets in South Korea have increased testing of seafood for radiation, and shoppers are hoarding salt as fears have grown over the Fukushima water release.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/12/japan-fukushima-radioactive-disposal-nuclear-tensions-oceans/