Tokyo, 7 February 2022 (TDI): Visit of the team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts has been planned from 14th to 18th of this month.
The IAEA team will visit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to poise the plan of the Japanese government to discharge treated radioactive water into the sea.
The experts will assess the safety measures regarding the discharging of treated water during their stay in Japan. Besides, the visit of the team to the Fukushima plant is scheduled for the 15th of February.
China and South Korea, as well as local fishing communities, have all spoken out against said the planned release of water, which is set to commence in the spring of 2023.
The on-site evaluation in the lead of the Director and Coordination of the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Safety and Security namely Gustavo Caruso by experts was previously planned for mid-December.
Said evaluation had been postponed due to the prompt spread of the coronavirus’s more contagious variant Omicron.
The team will discuss the course of cooperation in dealing with treated water with the Japanese government, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., and the operator of the Fukushima plant.
Furthermore, the Industry Ministry of Japan announced that IAEA will hold an online press conference on February 18. Water pumped in, to cool down the molten fuel at the plant affected by the massive earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan of 2011, which is accumulating at the complex.
It has mixed with rain and groundwater at the site, becoming contaminated. An advanced liquid processing system is used to treat the water. The process removes most radioactive material except the tritium, which is thought to be dangerous for health.
Tokyo decided to release the treated water into the Pacific Ocean in April of last year. To enhance transparency in the water discharge project, Japan’s Industry Ministry and the IAEA agreed that the international body would compile an interim safety evaluation report in 2022.
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