Why Does the Controversy Over Fukushima Contaminated Water Refuse to Die Out?

Announcement of Fukushima Inspection Team Verification Results
Some Success in Securing Original Data... But Criticism of 'Too Late' Response

The expert inspection team on contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has announced the verification results, but the controversy remains unresolved.

The ruling party stated that they secured raw data containing the inflow and outflow concentrations of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), evaluating it as an opportunity to alleviate public anxiety about the contaminated water. However, the opposition criticized the data acquisition as belated.

Yoo Guk-hee, head of the Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant government inspection team, is announcing the results of the inspection activities at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on the 31st at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Seong Il-jong, chairman of the People Power Party's Our Sea Protection Verification Task Force, said on June 1 on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "It is unacceptable to inject political intentions into science," adding, "I believe the public must have felt greatly reassured."

Regarding ALPS, a key facility related to the ocean discharge of contaminated water, Representative Seong explained, "There were about three multi-nuclide removal filters. When filtration failed, the water was retransferred to ensure it entered the safety system. It is stored in the K4 tank, the final tank for treated water, and from there, the tritium ratio is reduced," adding, "They plan to dilute it to about 1,500 becquerels (Bq) per liter before discharge, which is a very low level."

He continued, "(The inspection team) confirmed all these devices," and "They even provided an accurate briefing on the system diagram."

On the other hand, Yang Yi-won-young, secretary of the Democratic Party's Countermeasure Committee to Prevent Ocean Dumping of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water, criticized the ALPS pre- and post-treatment concentration analysis data secured by the inspection team as belated in the same radio interview. She noted that the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) had already obtained and analyzed data from TEPCO, found issues, and requested additional data.

Yang also raised concerns about the reliability of the data provided by the Japanese side. She said, "Since last year, there have been claims that the data extraction itself, including sample collection, and the resulting data lack consistency and are difficult to consider scientific."

The South Korean government's expert inspection team on Fukushima contaminated water conducted an on-site inspection of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on the 24th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency, provided by Tokyo Electric Power Company

Meanwhile, as Japan announced plans to begin discharge this summer, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released its sixth interim report on the verification of the contaminated water treatment process at the Fukushima nuclear power plant on May 31 (local time).

The IAEA evaluated that "Tokyo Electric Power Company of Japan demonstrated accurate measurement capabilities for radioactive nuclides present in the contaminated water stored on-site," based on comparisons between analysis results of contaminated water samples from overseas research institutes, including South Korea, and TEPCO's analysis. The IAEA also stated that no significant additional nuclides other than existing radioactive nuclides were found in the contaminated water.

The IAEA plans to release a final report before Japan begins discharging the contaminated water. The government intends to draw conclusions on Japan's Fukushima contaminated water plan as soon as the IAEA's final report on the discharge is released.