Japan to start Fukushima water release on Thursday

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Japan to start Fukushima water release on Thursday

Published: 22 Aug. 2023, 10:53 Updated: 22 Aug. 2023, 13:57

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers questions from reporters upon his arrival at the prime minister's office on Tuesday in Tokyo. [AP/YONHAP]

Japan will start discharging its treated radioactive water into the sea starting Thursday, according to media reports.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved the plan on Thursday, Kyodo News reported.

Tokyo’s plan to release the contaminated radioactive water, which was generated in the process of cooling reactor fuel at the plant after it suffered a meltdown during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan, has aroused significant opposition in Korea.

Under a plan that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found to be compliant with global safety standards, Japan is to gradually release the water via an underwater tunnel 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) from the power plant after diluting it to one-fortieth of the concentration permitted under Japanese safety standards.

The IAEA released a statement on Monday reaffirming its commitment to monitoring the safety of the nuclear power plant's treated water discharge. The agency had evaluated the ALPS treated water over the past two years.

The statement mentioned, "The report concluded that the approach and activities for this discharge are consistent with relevant international safety standards and would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment."

The IAEA stated that Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA, has committed to continuing the organization's impartial, independent, and objective safety review during the discharge phase.

Starting last month, the IAEA established an onsite office at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

"IAEA staff are working there so that they can continue to monitor and assess these activities on site to ensure that they continue to be consistent with the safety standards, including on the day of the start of the discharge and after," the international agency said. "The IAEA will also publish available data for use by the global community, including the provision of real-time and near real-time monitoring data."

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant sits in coastal towns of both Okuma and Futaba, as seen from the Ukedo fishing port in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, on March 2, 2022. [AP/YONHAP]

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]