Environmental groups demand scrapping of IAEA report

Environmental groups on Wednesday protested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s approval of Japan’s plan to release treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Protesters on Wednesday demand the International Atomic Energy Agency to scrap its report that approves Japan's plan to discharge Fukushima wastewater into the ocean in a rally held in Jongno District, central Seoul. [YONHAP]

Environmental groups on Wednesday protested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s approval of Japan’s plan to release treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

A union of environmental groups held a rally in Jongno District, central Seoul to demand the United Nations' nuclear watchdog scrap its final report on the release plan, which concluded the discharge of the wastewater from Fukushima is “consistent with international safety standards.”

“Around 84 percent of the Korean public opposes the idea of dumping the contaminated water from Fukushima into the sea, and even Japanese fishing communities have been against the plan for the past four years,” members of the groups were quoted as saying.

The environmental activists condemned the IAEA’s latest comprehensive report, slamming the institution for not serving its purpose as an international organization by siding with the Japanese government despite fierce opposition from the international community.

In the latest and final comprehensive report announced a day earlier, the IAEA compiled the assessment results of the safety review on the Fukushima wastewater discharge plan, concluding that “the approach to the discharge of ALPS [Advanced Liquid Processing System] treated water into the sea, and the associated activities by Tepco [Tokyo Electric Power Company], NRA [Nuclear Regulation Authority], and the Government of Japan, are consistent with relevant international safety standards."

Protestors further said that the nuclear watchdog did not thoroughly consider viable measures to dispose of the treated water, such as storing them in massive tanks and solidifying them in concrete.

The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) experts have previously proposed a plan to use ALPS-treated water in making concrete, which the Japanese government said is “difficult due to technical and legal aspects.”

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained last month heat generated when mixing concrete will “evaporate tritium into the air” and concrete that contains treated water is classified as “radioactive waste” under its law.

Tritium is the nuclide that is not being processed by ALPS.

On the same day, Greenpeace’s Seoul office released a statement saying that the IAEA has been "encouraging the Japanese government to choose discharging the Fukushima wastewater for the past decade."

It also faulted the watchdog for failing to examine the technologies involved.

“The IAEA has not conducted a technological evaluation on the ALPS itself, but evaluated only what Tepco reported about the system,” the statement read.

Greenpeace added that the IAEA is violating its own regulation as its report does not adhere to the agency's General Safety Guide Series No. 8 and 9, which require the benefits of releasing the radioactive wastewater to "outweigh the harms for individuals and societies.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]