Photo/Illutration Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, submits his agency's final report on the Fukushima water discharge plan to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on July 4. (Koichi Ueda)

The government received the international approval it wanted to begin dumping treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met on July 4 with Rafael Grossi, the visiting director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who presented his agency’s final report on the water discharge plan.

The report said the plan would have a negligible impact on people and the environment.

“I want to explain the situation in a highly transparent manner based on the scientific rationale (of the report),” Kishida said in the meeting. “We will deal sincerely with the issue after listening to the contents.”

Grossi wrote in the foreword to the report: “The IAEA has concluded that the approach and activities to the discharge of ALPS treated water taken by Japan are consistent with relevant international safety standards.”

The government decided in April 2021 to release the treated water into the ocean because there was no longer room on the grounds of the crippled nuclear power plant to store the treated water.

Tokyo asked the IAEA to conduct a study to ensure the water to be released would meet international safety standards.

The final report is a compilation of six past reports that the IAEA has released between April 2022 and May 2023. IAEA specialists have visited the Fukushima site to check on the planned decontamination of the water before the release.

They have also held meetings with officials of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, as well as the Nuclear Regulation Authority and the economy ministry.

While Fukushima fishermen have long voiced concerns that the water release would create unwanted negative publicity for any seafood they catch, neighboring nations have also raised concerns about the effects from the water discharge.

In its past reports, the IAEA has found that the radiation levels in the water to be discharged were well under what would have health effects on humans. It also added that the plan to release the water had been independently assessed and approved by the NRA.

TEPCO completed work on June 26 on the equipment to discharge the water, and the NRA is expected to release its final approval of the plan, having completed the last check at the Fukushima site on June 30.

Under the plan, radioactive water processed by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which removes radioactive substances other than tritium, will be diluted with seawater.

After tritium levels are lowered under one-40th of government standards, or 1,500 becquerels per liter, the water will be released into the ocean.

Kishida has explained to his relevant ministers to continue with thorough explanations to assuage concerns held by Fukushima fishermen as well as foreign nations.

A final decision on when to release to the treated water will be made after such explanations are completed.

(This article was written by Keitaro Fukuchi and Mizuki Sato.)

Related News