DPRK slams IAEA unreasonable approval of Fukushima water dump

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Jul 2023 15:42

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has slammed the UN's nuclear watchdogs decision to approve Tokyo's plan to dump huge amounts of treated nuclear water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Affiliates of the opposition Justice Party in South Korea rally against Japan's plan to discharge treated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, Downtown, Seoul, South Korea, July 8, 2023 (AFP)

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea denounced the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after it approved Japan's plan to dump treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

The UN nuclear watchdog approved the segmented release of treated water from the tsunami-hit Fukushima power plant into the ocean over the next few decades.

Releasing the water into the ocean will have "fatal adverse impact on the human lives and security and ecological environment," an official of the DPRK's Environment Protection Ministry stated through the state-owned Korean Central News Agency.

"What matters is the unreasonable behavior of IAEA actively patronizing and facilitating Japan's projected discharge of nuclear-polluted water, which is unimaginable," the official added.

Around 1.33 million cubic meters of groundwater, rainwater, and water used in the cooling process of the disaster-struck power plant have been collected in its vicinity. According to AFP, the plant's operator will treat the water expelling all radioactive elements from it, except tritium. Then the treated water will be diluted and dumped into the ocean over several decades.

The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi is currently wrapping up a three-day visit to Seoul by meeting opposition lawmakers in South Korea, who have expressed their discontent with the plan.

The People's Republic of China has also been critical of the plan. On Friday, China's customs authority said it would "ban imports of foodstuffs from ten Japanese prefectures including Fukushima" over safety concerns.

It announced plans to conduct stringent radiation tests on food from the rest of Japan, noting that "China Customs will maintain a high level of vigilance."

"Japan still has many problems in terms of the legitimacy of ocean dumping, the reliability of the purification equipment, and the completeness of the monitoring plan."

To remove the radioactive elements, plant operator TEPCO treated the water using its ALPS processing systems, which China has expressed doubt regarding the reliability of the systems.

In March 2011, Fukushima suffered one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters since Chornobyl after a tsunami rocked the islands.