Kishida visits Fukushima plant ahead of radioactive water release

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday visited the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant ahead of the Japanese government’s expected release of radioactive water stored at the facility into the sea.

In this photo released by Kyodo News Agency, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, inspects a water treatment facility at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan. [REUTERS]

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday visited the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant ahead of the Japanese government’s expected release of radioactive water stored at the facility into the sea.

Tokyo’s plan to release the contaminated radioactive water, which was generated in the process of cooling reactor fuel at the plant after it suffered a meltdown during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan, has aroused significant opposition in Korea and particularly among politicians in the Democratic Party (DP).

Kishida’s visit came before he meets other ministers on Tuesday to discuss when to begin releasing the water.

On Sunday, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency said the process will begin between late August and early September, citing government sources it did not name.

During his visit to Washington to attend a trilateral summit with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden, Kishida told reporters that Tokyo is in the “final stage” of procedures before deciding on the timing of the water release.

Japan’s planned discharge of radioactive water was not discussed at the summit, according to a Korean presidential official.

The radioactive water has been stored in tanks after undergoing an advanced liquid processing system that removes most radioactive materials except for tritium, which cannot be eliminated by current technology.

But the tanks are nearing capacity, with the Fukushima plant currently storing over 1.3 million tons of radioactive water in 1,000 tanks — enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Japanese officials say the water must be released as part of the plant’s decommissioning process, which is expected to take decades to complete.

Tokyo announced its plan to gradually release tons of treated radioactive water from the defunct power plant into the sea in 2021, drawing strong opposition from surrounding countries including Korea.

Under a plan that the International Atomic Energy Agency has found to be compliant with global safety standards, Japan will gradually release the water via an underwater tunnel 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) from the power plant after diluting it to one-fortieth of the concentration permitted under Japanese safety standards.

The planned release is expected to take up to 30 years.

The Korean government has said it will respect the IAEA’s assessment of the Japanese plan, despite persistent opposition to the plan from fishing communities and civic groups, as well as from the DP.

At Camp David, President Yoon said the potential safety impact of the planned water discharge makes it the “highest priority” for all three countries and the international community.

He also called on the water’s processing to be “based on scientific principles” and that transparent data disclosure would be “necessary” to allay health concerns, echoing his earlier request to Kishida to include Korean experts in monitoring the water discharge.

But Yoon has faced criticism at home after the trilateral summit for not using the talks to oppose Japan’s discharge plan more forcefully.

Speaking at a press briefing at the National Assembly on Sunday, Democratic Party spokesman Park Seong-jun castigated Yoon for ignoring the issue during his latest face-to-face with Kishida.

The spokesman urged the Yoon administration to “cease its diplomacy of offering one-sided benefits to Japan” and “rethink its approach to foreign policy.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]