Hong Kong to carry out more research on Japan’s plan to discharge radioactive waste water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea, despite UN watchdog’s go-ahead
- More risk assessments will be carried out on plan and Japan to be asked for further details on discharge process
- Japan says water from wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to be heavily diluted and pumped out to sea over 30 years
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday said, after two years of consideration, that the Japanese plan to dispose of the contaminated water was in line with international safety standards.
The report, presented in Tokyo to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida by IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi, said controlled and gradual discharge of the treated water “would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment”.
“We have agreed that the IAEA will have its continued presence at the site and will continue to review if the plan moves forward … If the government decides to proceed with it, the IAEA will be permanently here reviewing, monitoring and assessing this activity for decades to come,” Grossi promised.
The water from the plant, damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, will be diluted with seawater to one-fortieth of the concentration permitted under Japanese safety standards before it is released through an underwater tunnel.
It is expected to take up to 30 years to dispose of the 1.37 million tons of contaminated water, a long-term process which sparked fears in the Hong Kong government and among lawmakers over the potential health and environmental effects.
