Backlash grows as Japan prepares to release wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant

Protesters stage a demonstration against the Japanese government’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, July 9, 2023.

Ahn Youngjoon/AP

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Ahn Youngjoon/AP

Protesters stage a demonstration against the Japanese government’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, July 9, 2023.

Ahn Youngjoon/AP

SEOUL, South Korea South Korean opposition lawmakers sharply criticized the head of the United Nations nuclear observatory on Sunday for his endorsement of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

They met with Rafael Grossi in a tense meeting in Seoul that took place as protesters screamed outside the door.

Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in South Korea over the weekend to interact with government officials and critics and help ease public concerns about food safety.

The IAEA approved Japan’s discharge plans last week, saying the process will meet international safety standards and have negligible environmental and health impacts. The South Korean government has also approved the safety of Japanese planes.

In his meeting with members of the Liberal Democratic Party, which controls the majority in South Korea’s parliament, Grossi said the IAEA’s review of Japan’s plans was based on “transparent” and “scientific” research. He acknowledged concerns about how Japan’s plans would play out and said the IAEA would establish a permanent office in Fukushima to closely monitor the implementation of the discharge process over the next three decades.

“Our conclusion was that this plan, if implemented in the way presented, would be in line with international safety standards,” Grossi said.

Lawmakers responded by sharply criticizing the IAEA’s review, which they said overlooked the long-term health and environmental impacts of wastewater release and threatens to set a bad precedent that could encourage other countries to dispose of nuclear waste at sea. They have called on Japan to scrap plans for dumping and work with neighboring countries to find safer ways to manage wastewater, including possible research into long-term storage on land.

The party has also criticized South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government for putting people’s health at risk as it seeks to improve relations with Japan.

“If you think (treated wastewater) is safe, I wonder if you would be willing to suggest the Japanese government to use that water for drinking or industrial and agricultural purposes, rather than dumping it into the sea,” Woo Won-shik, ha told Grossi a member of the Democratic Party who attended the meeting. The party said Woo has been on hunger strike for the past 14 days to protest Japanese discharge plans.

Further details of the meeting were not immediately available after reporters were asked to leave following opening statements. Closely watched by parliamentary security personnel, dozens of protesters shouted near the lobby of the main hall of the National Assembly where the meeting was taking place, holding placards denouncing the IAEA and Japan.

Grossi was scheduled to fly to New Zealand later on Sunday and then travel to the Cook Islands as he seeks to further reassure countries in the region about Japan’s plans.

Hundreds of protesters also marched in central Seoul on Saturday demanding Japan abandon its plans.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the cooling systems of the Fukushima plant, causing three reactors to melt down and release large amounts of radiation.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the plant, has been storing the treated water in hundreds of tanks that now cover most of the plant and are nearly full. Japanese officials say the tanks need to be removed to make room for building facilities to decommission the plant and to minimize the risk of leaks in the event of another major disaster. The tanks are expected to reach their 1.37 million tonne capacity in early 2024.

Japan first announced plans to discharge treated water into the sea in 2018, saying the water will be further diluted by seawater before being released in a carefully controlled process that will take decades to complete. .

The safety of Fukushima’s wastewater has been a sensitive issue among US allies for years. South Korea and Japan have worked in recent months to mend long-tense relations over historic wartime grievances to address shared concerns such as North Korea’s nuclear threat and China’s assertive foreign policy.

In a statement released by state media on Sunday, North Korea also criticized Japan’s discharge plans, warning of the “fatal negative impact on human lives, security and the ecological environment.” The statement, which was attributed to an unidentified official from North Korea’s Ministry of Land and Environmental Protection, also criticized Washington and Seoul for supporting Japanese plans.

“What matters is the unreasonable behavior of the IAEA actively advocating and facilitating Japan’s planned dumping of nuclear-polluted water, which is unimaginable,” he said. “Worse, the United States and South Korea openly express an inappropriate ‘welcome’ to Japan’s discharge plan that deserves condemnation and rejection, causing strong public anger.”