IAEA says 

Fukushima visit ‘very productive’

18 February 2022

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) task force experts collected samples for testing and gathered
information about Japan’s plan to discharge treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
into the sea.

Japan announced in April 2021 it planned to gradually discharge more than 1.25 million cubic meters of treated
water into the sea and requested the IAEA’s assistance to help "ensure its safe and transparent
implementation".

The task force consists of IAEA staff members as well as 11 international experts from countries including China,
Argentina, Australia, Russia, South Korea, and the USA.

Ahead of this week's mission - to Tokyo and Fukushima - the members examined safety-related documents,
including the implementation plan for the water discharge and the radiological environmental impact
assessment.

"The task force mission was very productive. We received valuable information - and posed many questions -
about all safety aspects of the planned water discharge in frank and open discussions, ranging from the
undersea tunnel that will carry the water out to sea to the protection of workers at the site and the public at
large," said Gustavo Caruso, a director within the IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security and chairman
of the task force.

Japan's discharge of the water is expected to begin during the first half of 2023 but the entire operation could
last for decades.

Nearby countries have been alarmed by Japan's plan, but the IAEA says that the level of tritium in the water will
be "well below national regulatory limits and the World Health Organization standards for drinking water. The
IAEA Task Force review will provide the public, in Japan and beyond, with objective scientific information about
the discharge".

Fifty litres of water from the tanks were collected during the task force's visit and will be analysed at IAEA
laboratories in Argentina and Mexico.

The IAEA will release a report on this week’s mission "in about two months" and will also carry out follow-up
missions to Japan this year and next, and a comprehensive report with conclusions will be published before the
water release starts.

"As a scientific and technical organisation, we will be fully transparent and independent in our reviews and
reporting. The world will know what is going on at all times," Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

"Thanks to our presence, people everywhere can have full confidence that the water discharge is carried out
without harming public health or the environment," he added.

LINK: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-says-Fukushima-visit-very-productive