Japan won approval from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog on Tuesday for its plan to release treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima plant into the ocean, despite fierce resistance from Beijing and some local residents.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on March 11, 2011. The accident was caused by a tsunami that was triggered by the Tōhoku earthquake. The disaster resulted in the release of radioactive materials and contamination of the surrounding areas. It is considered to be the second-worst nuclear disaster in history after the Chernobyl disaster
Now, after a two-year review, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Japan’s plans were consistent with global safety standards and that they would have a “negligible radiological impact to people and the environment”.
“This is a very special night,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before handing him a thick blue folder containing the final report.
Grossi later told reporters at the Japan National Press Club, where he was met by a small group of protesters, that he would seek to relieve the fears of those who are against the move, and he would station IAEA staff at the Fukushima plant to monitor the release.
“We have to recognize that such a thing has not happened before,” he said, adding that Japan would have the final say on the release, which is due to span 30 to 40 years.
Japan’s government maintains the process is safe as it has treated the water – enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools – used to cool the fuel rods of the Fukushima plant after it was damaged by the earthquake and resulting tsunami.
Japan has not specified a date to start the water release pending official approval from the national nuclear regulatory body for Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) (9501.T), whose final word on the plan unveiled in 2021 could come as early as this week.
