IAEA Green Lights Controversial Plan to Release Fukushima Water

The Japanese government is expected to begin releasing water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean as early as next month. The United Nations nuclear watchdog, IAEA, has given the controversial plan the green light following a two-year review which concluded the plan was “consistent with relevant international safety standards” and poses “a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment”. More than 1.3 million tonnes of water – enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools – has built up at the plant since the 2011 tsunami destroyed the power station’s electricity and cooling systems and triggered the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The water, most of which comes from cooling the three damaged reactors, is being extracted with an extensive pumping and filtration system known as the advanced liquid processing system (ALPS). However, the plan has encountered fierce resistance from Japan’s neighbours and Pacific island nations as well as fishing and agricultural communities in and around Fukushima, who fear for their livelihoods. Much of the concern has centred on the presence of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, which is hard to remove from water. The IAEA has said that before the release of the water, Japan would dilute it to bring the level of tritium to below regulatory standards.

The UN watchdog will also maintain a “continuous on-site presence and provide live online monitoring on its website from the discharge facility” once the release begins. Beijing has been among the most vociferous critics of the plan. In a statement following the IAEA report, China’s foreign ministry chastised the agency’s “hasty release” of the report, claiming it “failed to fully reflect views from experts”.

South Korea said while it respected the IAEA’s report, its priority would remain “our people’s health and safety”. Seoul has also said it would undertake an “unprecedentedly intense” inspection of foodstuffs over the next 100 days to ensure importers, distributors and retailers are properly marking the goods’ origin. The process of releasing the water is expected to take several decades. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to travel to the Fukushima site this week with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who will then travel to South Korea as well as New Zealand and the Cook Islands.