Officials from Japan and South Korea yesterday discussed a visit by South Korean experts to the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant before it begins the controversial release of treated, but radioactive, water into the sea.
The safety of the water is a major sticking point as the two sides work to improve long-strained ties.
Discussions were held in Seoul and online, and the Japanese government was expected to give updates on the status of the Fukushima plant.
Photo: AP
Officials are preparing to release the water, saying it is an unavoidable step in the decommissioning process.
The government and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), said the release would begin in the spring or summer and take decades to finish.
A tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake in 2011 destroyed the nuclear plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation.
Water used to cool the three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, leaks into the basements of the reactor buildings and is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that cover much of the plant.
The government and TEPCO said the tanks must be removed to make room to build facilities for the plant’s decommissioning and to minimize the risk of leaks in case of another major disaster.
The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tonnes in the spring next year.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during a visit to Seoul for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol early this week, announced that Japan would receive a team of experts at the plant later this month to address South Korea’s concerns in a show of his desire to further improve relations.
Seoul wants to send about 20 South Korean government experts to the nuclear power plant.
It said that the group’s size would be determined after talks with Japan.
South Korean Government Policy Coordination Office vice head Park Ku-yeon said Japan was reluctant to accept private experts, as it sees it as a government-to-government matter.
He said the plant visit is aimed at “reviewing the safety of the entire ocean discharge process,” including the site’s water treatment facility and its operation, and technologies to measure contamination levels in treated water.
Asked whether Seoul would consider lifting its import ban on seafood from Fukushima Prefecture if it determines Japan’s water release plan is safe, Park said “absolutely not,” citing South Korean public concerns and a need for deeper investigations into the environmental impact of the 2011 disaster.
Japanese officials said the South Korean delegation’s plant visit is not an inspection and does not involve a safety assessment, review or evaluation of the water discharge plan.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on Thursday said the visit would not affect the timing of a planned release of the water and that Japan continues to provide explanations about safety measures to aid understanding.
Japanese officials say the water would be safely filtered to below releasable levels by international standards and further diluted by large amounts of seawater before release, making it harmless to human health or marine life.
The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities concerned about safety and reputational damage. Neighboring countries, including Taiwan, South Korea, China and Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns.
South Korea and China ban food imports from Fukushima and describe the water as “contaminated” instead of “treated,” despite Tokyo’s repeated protests.
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