Korea’s inspection team for Fukushima plant says details will be shared soon

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Korea’s inspection team for Fukushima plant says details will be shared soon

Published: 26 May. 2023, 18:01

Yoo Guk-hee, chairman of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport on Friday upon his return from Japan. [YONHAP]

Korea’s inspection team for the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan returned home on Friday, saying that details of their activities will be publicly shared soon.

Yoo Guk-hee, chairman of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, who led a group of Korean experts to the plant this week, told reporters at Incheon International Airport that his team members largely focused on examining facilities related to the removal of nuclear substances, the plant’s ability to immediately suspend discharges in case of abnormal situations, the Advanced Liquid Processing System that handles the treatment of contaminated water at the power plant, and the K4 tanks storing the treated water.

Yoo said his team needed more time to analyze the data obtained during the inspection and the additional information that Seoul requested from Tokyo, stating it was “difficult” to estimate how long the process would take.

The 21-person team arrived in Japan last Sunday and carried out their inspection of the plant through Wednesday, a result of an agreement struck between the leaders of Korea and Japan during their summit earlier this month.

A massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, destroying the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Japan plans to gradually release tons of treated radioactive water from the defunct power plant into the sea — a plan that was announced in 2021 and has been supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency but has drawn strong opposition from fishing communities in nearby countries.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]