IAEA backs Japan's plan to release Fukushima water

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi attends a press conference at Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The United Nation’s nuclear watchdog approved Japan’s plan to release the treated wastewater from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant in its seventh and final report released Tuesday.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that day to hand over the final comprehensive report during his four-day visit to the country.

"The plan, as it has been proposed and devised, is in conformity with the agreed international standard," said Grossi during a press conference held after his meeting with Kishida.

The announcement is largely in line with the agency's previous stance.

While the IAEA chief stressed that the IAEA's review is a "comprehensive, neutral, objective, scientifically-sound evaluation," he also addressed the growing concerns from the neighboring countries.

"I was in China, a few weeks ago, and I have been in contact with the authorities from the Republic of Korea, and also the Pacific islands," said Grossi.

The director general emphasized that his responsibility "is to be available, to answer questions," promising that he will listen to and address the opinions and concerns surfacing from other countries.

The IAEA, an autonomous international organization within the UN system, established a task force that involves experts from 11 countries — including Korea, the United States and China — to review Japan's plan to release the Fukushima wastewater in 2021.

The task force so far released six reports since April last year.

In the latest comprehensive report, the IAEA compiled the assessment results of the safety review on the Fukushima wastewater discharge plan, concluding that “the approach to the discharge of ALPS [Advanced Liquid Processing System] treated water into the sea, and the associated activities by Tepco [Tokyo Electric Power Company], NRA [Nuclear Regulation Authority], and the Government of Japan, are consistent with relevant international safety standards."

Furthermore, the report confirmed that "the discharge of the ALPS treated water, as currently planned by Tepco, will have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment."

In its proposal, Japan plans to process the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant with the ALPS, which removes most of the nuclides from the water except for tritium, according to Tepco.

In order to lower the tritium level to below 1,500 becquerel (Bq) per liter, which is about one-seventh of the 10,000-Bq level set by the World Health Organization for drinking water, Tepco says that it will dilute the ALPS-treated water and gradually release 1.25 million tons of the Fukushima water over a span of 30 years.

"It should be noted that the total amount of tritium, 14C and 129I to be released each year in the discharge of ALPS treated water will be well below the amount of these radionuclides produced by natural processes each year, such as the interaction of cosmic rays with gases in the upper atmosphere," said the IAEA in the comprehensive report.

Japan conducted a two-week test operation of the discharge facility for the treated wastewater starting June 12.

The discharge is expected to begin as early as this summer, but the final decision by the prime minister is yet to be made. If Japan proceeds with the plan, the IAEA will have a "continued presence" permanently at the Fukushima site to monitor the treated water release.

The IAEA’s task force so far released six reports on the Fukushima nuclear power plant: Report 1 on the IAEA’s first safety review mission to Tepco and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) published on April 29, 2022; Report 2 on the first IAEA mission to assess Japan’s NRA published on June 16; Report 3 on the IAEA’s corroboration activities, published on Dec. 29; Report 4 on the second safety review mission to Tepco and METI published on April 5 this year; Report 5 on the second mission to NRA published on May 4; and a corroboration report on interlaboratory comparison of treated wastewater samples published on May 31.

In the corroboration report released on May 31, the task force confirmed that the IAEA and laboratories from five countries — Korea, the United States, France, Switzerland and Japan — found Japan’s methodology in sampling the Fukushima water accurate and appropriate.

Japan’s NRA is likely to grant final approval to Tepco for the planned release of the Fukushima water next week after reviewing the IAEA report.

Though the IAEA approved Japan’s plan to release the Fukushima water, concerns remain high in neighboring countries.

Korea, which took part in the IAEA task force and deployed an inspection team to the Fukushima site, plans to publish its own review report, though the issue date has yet to be confirmed.

The government announced on Tuesday that the IAEA chief will make a three-day visit to Korea starting Friday after his stay in Japan.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]