Photo/Illutration Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on July 4. (Kai Ichino)

China, South Korea and other nations were not placated by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s conclusion that discharging water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant would have negligible effects on health and the environment.

At a July 4 news conference in Tokyo, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that the assessment of the plan was based on science.

“We recognize there are concerns, but the report adequately answers all the scientific aspects related to” the water discharge plan.

However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement on July 4 that said the IAEA report did not reflect the views of everyone involved in assessing the discharge plan, and that the conclusion did not receive unanimous approval of experts working on the issue.

Chinese officials were involved in various studies on the plan held in Japan over the past two years or so.

The Chinese government hinted that it might strengthen its import ban on Japanese food products if the water discharge plan goes ahead.

The South Korean administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol said it is focusing on the scientific basis of the IAEA evaluation. But opposition lawmakers in the country have started a hunger strike intended to halt the water release plan at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Grossi said the IAEA report would help the international community judge the feasibility of the plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the stricken plant.

He also said his agency would open an office at the Fukushima plant site.

“The IAEA will have a continued presence at the site and continue reviewing and monitoring the activities for decades to come,” he said.

The 140-page IAEA report covered a wide range of areas, including the effects on the environment and people, the safety of the equipment to be used and the independent role of the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Although it concluded that the effects of the water release would be negligible, the report said, “The need to address the views of interested parties over the entire length of the proposed discharge will remain an important factor.”

When asked about concerns being raised in China, South Korea and island nations in the Pacific, Grossi said, “We should not only indicate from the podium that this is the truth and everybody should accept it, but listen (to such concerns) as well.”

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), consisting of 18 nations and regions, continues to express strong reservations about the water discharge plan.

The PIF said another deliberative international body made up of nations directly affected by the plan should be set up to discuss related issues.

Related News