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U. N. nuclear agency team to review plans for release of Fukushima water

U. N. nuclear agency team to review plans for release of Fukushima water, The Hindu, AP TOKYO:, NOVEMBER 15, 2021 

The experts from IAEA are to meet with Japanese officials and visit the Fukushima Daiichi plant to discuss technical details of the planned release, Japanese officials said.

A team from the U.N. nuclear agency arrived in Japan on Monday to assess preparations for the release into the ocean of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.

The experts on the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are to meet with Japanese officials and visit the Fukushima Daiichi plant to discuss technical details of the planned release, Japanese officials said.

The government and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Holdings, announced plans in April to start gradually releasing the treated radioactive water in the spring of 2023 to allow the removal of hundreds of storage tanks to make room for facilities needed for the destroyed plant’s decommissioning.

The plan has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, local residents and Japan’s neighbours, including China and South Korea.

Japan has requested assistance from the IAEA  to ensure the discharge meets international safety standards and to gain the understanding of the international community. A larger 11-member IAEA mission is expected next month.

Japanese Economy and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda pledged last week that Japan will explain the outcome of the IAEA reviews to the international community “in a courteous and transparent manner.” A separate IAEA taskforce on water testing earlier collected fish samples from the Fukushima coast as part of a routine review along with technical assistance for the plant’s decommissioning. The team included an expert from South Korea…………https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/u-n-nuclear-agency-team-to-review-plans-for-release-of-fukushima-water/article37498602.ece

November 16, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan