IAEA chief meets S. Korea lawmakers, stresses Fukushima water safety

15:17, 10 July 2023

SEOUL. KAZINFORM - The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency emphasized the safety of Japan's planned discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea at a meeting Sunday with lawmakers from South Korea's main opposition party, Kyodo reports.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi held talks with several National Assembly members of the Democratic Party, including Wi Seong Gon, who told Grossi that the agency's report of the safety review on the plan is flawed.

In the live-streamed meeting, Wi, head of a special committee of the assembly on the water issue, claimed the report has not verified the long-term impact of the water release on marine ecosystems.

Grossi responded the plan conformed «with international safety standards» and that the agency will continue to monitor whether the process is carried out as planned.

Another opposition lawmaker, Woo Won Shik, who has staged a hunger strike for two weeks, said the IAEA's «verification was biased in favor of Japan from the beginning, losing its neutrality and objectivity.»

The IAEA chief said, «The issue at hand today has attracted a lot of interest and this is absolutely logical,» adding that he fully understood the concerns of South Korean people and that he had come to Seoul to give a thorough explanation about the safety.

Grossi, who was on a three-day visit from Friday, met South Korea's Foreign Minister Pari Jin and Yoo Guk Hee, head of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, on Saturday to talk about the report he submitted to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last Tuesday.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Park told Grossi that the government has consistently maintained that the safety of the radioactive water should be tested from an objective and scientific point of view, seeking cooperation from the IAEA in coping with the public's concerns over safety.

South Korea said last Wednesday that it respects the results of the IAEA's review in which it endorsed the safety of the water discharge plan.

Since Japan announced its decision to release treated radioactive water into the sea in April 2021, there has been strong opposition to the plan among the South Korean public due to concerns that the water could be harmful to people's health and the environment.

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