Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Reduction of Fukushima Assessment Radionuclides is an IAEA Request"

Japan Reduces Number of Substances Measured in Nuclear Wastewater from 64 to 31
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "NRA Still Reviewing Re-selection Proposal"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The government stated that the criticism regarding Japan significantly reducing the number of radionuclides to be measured and evaluated in the contaminated water to be discharged from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the future is a result of re-selection requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 10th, the IAEA monitoring task force (TF), which is verifying the safety of the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water discharge plan, requested during its first visit to Japan in February last year that the 64 radionuclides selected by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) be adjusted to be based on actual measurements rather than predictions.

Accordingly, TEPCO prepared a revised plan re-selecting 31 radionuclides, including tritium, as measurement and evaluation targets, considering actual measurement data and the half-life of each radionuclide. Subsequently, it applied for approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan in November last year.

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water Transfer Pump
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

TEPCO and the IAEA announced that they had detailed discussions on this revised plan during the third visit to Japan in November last year, and the IAEA plans to include related review opinions in the third visit result report to be released between February and March this year.

Earlier, the office of Lee Jae-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed concern about selecting only 31 radionuclides out of approximately 1,000 expected to be present in the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water and issued a press release urging the Japanese government to halt the discharge plan. The materials submitted to Lee by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission included the content that TEPCO reduced the number of radionuclides for measurement and evaluation from the existing 64 to 31.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official explained, "Currently, the NRA is reviewing whether to approve TEPCO's revised radionuclide re-selection plan, and no final decision has been made yet," adding, "The Japanese side explained this during the Korea-Japan bureau-level video conference held in December last year, and our experts attending the meeting discussed technical matters in detail."

He continued, "The government will continue to prioritize the health and safety of the public and maintain the position that contaminated water must be handled safely from a scientific and objective perspective and in a manner consistent with international law and international standards."

Meanwhile, Japan plans to treat the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water with radionuclide removal facilities and discharge it into the ocean as early as this spring.