Fukushima Inspection Team "Confirmed Means to Block Contaminated Water... Comprehensive Evaluation Through Additional Analysis"

First Report After Completing Field Inspection Team Activities

Yoo Guk-hee, chairperson of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and head of the expert inspection team on Fukushima nuclear wastewater, stated on the 31st regarding the on-site inspection of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, "Through this inspection, we confirmed that the main facilities are installed on-site according to the design, and we verified the measures to block the release of contaminated water in case of abnormal situations." The inspection team completed the on-site inspection of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant over two days starting from the 23rd and returned to Korea on the 26th.

At a briefing held at the Seoul Government Complex on the same day, Chairperson Yoo said, "Additional analysis and verification are necessary for a comprehensive evaluation of the performance adequacy and long-term operational feasibility of the main facilities."

Although the team focused on inspecting the contaminated water shut-off valves, radiation analysis laboratories, and tritium dilution facilities on-site, they stated that further verification is needed regarding the possibility of maintaining performance and functional suitability. They plan to announce the final safety review results after securing related information through additional Q&A and document requests with the Japanese side.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Specifically, the facilities that transfer contaminated water to the dilution system require additional document requests regarding the long-term maintenance management plan. The core dilution discharge facilities, including transfer pumps and intake ports, were checked, but since installation work is currently ongoing, the suitability of the maintenance management plan must be further assessed. The transfer facilities include emergency shut-off valves that prevent the marine discharge of contaminated water in emergencies such as purification facility failures or natural disasters.

The central control room also inspected the operational status of major facilities, alarm windows, and the emergency shut-off system for contaminated water discharge, but comprehensive verification of control functions through the pre-use inspection results by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for transfer, dilution, discharge, and facilities is deemed necessary. Additionally, they plan to comprehensively verify the appropriateness of the radiation impact assessment revised and submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in February this year, as well as the adequacy of TEPCO’s marine monitoring plan.

Chairperson Yoo stated, "This inspection represents meaningful progress in the scientific and technical review process through direct on-site verification and more detailed data acquisition, but additional analysis and verification work will be conducted for more precise judgment." She added, "Based on these analysis results, we plan to comprehensively evaluate Japan’s plans related to Fukushima contaminated water and disclose the results."