2023-07-07 08:36:39
China is sticking to the ban on the import of food from ten Japanese prefectures because of the planned disposal of Fukushima cooling water into the sea for safety reasons. This was announced by Chinese customs on Friday. As the authority further explained, the detection and monitoring of radioactive substances is to be continuously strengthened in order to ensure the safety of food imported from Japan. The ban is therefore a reaction to the expert report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the disposal of radioactive cooling water from the Japanese nuclear power plant ruins in Fukushima, which is to be drained into the sea after filtering.
Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times reported that Chinese expert Liu Senlin, who was part of the IAEA’s panel of experts, was disappointed with the “hasty” report. According to Liu, the experts’ contribution is limited and for reference only. Liu Senlin has not yet been available for comment. China, the largest buyer of seafood from Japan, will also strictly check documents for food, especially aquatic products, from other parts of Japan, customs said in a statement.
For weeks, China had publicly spoken out against Japan’s plan to discharge filtered radioactive cooling water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant ruins into the sea.
South Korea agrees in principle
South Korea’s government said Friday it respected the UN Atomic Energy Agency’s review of Japan’s plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant into the sea, saying it met international standards. “Based on a review of the contaminated water treatment plan submitted by Japan, we have confirmed that the concentration of the radioactive material meets the standards for discharge into the sea,” said Bang Moon-kyu, minister of the Bureau for Government Policy Coordination , at a press conference.
South Korea has itself reviewed Japan’s plan to dump more than a million tons of the treated water into the sea. Bang said South Korea’s assessment depends on the execution of the plan and it will conduct further reviews if there are any changes. On Thursday, a group of South Korean lawmakers from the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, held a press conference urging Japan to consider other ways of dealing with the sewage, such as burying it underground or evaporating it.
Published/Updated: Published/Updated: Tim Kanning, Tokyo Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 10
A group of experts set up by the UN nuclear regulatory agency IAEA in 2021 gave its report this week evaluating Japan’s handling of radioactive cooling water. The experts had concluded that the planned release of the water would have “negligible” effects on the environment such as seawater, fish and sediment. In an interview with Reuters news agency, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed that he had heard that one or two experts had expressed concerns about the release of the treated radioactive cooling water. “I’ve heard that said…but again, what we’ve published is scientifically sound,” Grossi said, adding that none of the experts had directly raised concerns with him. He didn’t elaborate on how he found out about the problem.
Nuclear authority IAEA on difficult terrain
According to Grossi, the IAEA’s report does not mean endorsement of the plan. Tokyo must make the final decision on draining the water, which is set to begin in late summer this year. “We do not endorse the plan, nor do we recommend going ahead with it. We say that this plan is in line with the norms,” said the head of the IAEA, stressing: “We are not on one side. I am not on the side of Japan, nor on the side of China, nor on the side of Korea. The standards apply to everyone equally.” Beijing had previously sharply criticized the IAEA report, saying that the regulator should not approve of a plan that poses risks to marine life and human health.
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