China reiterated Thursday its warning against Japan's plan to begin releasing treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant sometime this spring or summer, saying Tokyo "has not seriously responded to international concerns."
Sun Xiaobo, director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Arms Control Department, stressed at a press briefing that in addition to China, stakeholders such as South Korea, North Korea, Russia and many Pacific island countries are not "fully convinced" about the safety of the planned water discharge.
"Countries and the media need to speak now to Japan to face up to its responsibilities, not to take any irresponsible action in a hasty way," Sun said.
The Japanese government and the Fukushima Daiichi plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., aim to soon begin discharging the treated water, which contains trace amounts of tritium, into the Pacific Ocean.
Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami, vast quantities of water are still needed to continually cool the melted fuel and fuel debris at the plant.
The water pumped into the plant for this purpose has mixed with groundwater and rainwater, accumulating in storage tanks at TEPCO's crippled complex after being treated with an advanced liquid processing system that removes most radionuclides.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted several safety reviews of the water release plan to ensure the discharge is in line with international safety standards and poses no harm to public health and the environment.
An IAEA task force said after observing the Fukushima plant in January that Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority is "implementing an appropriate inspection program" focusing on safety aspects of the planned water discharge.
However, Sun said the task force has not reached a final conclusion yet. He also cast doubt on the trustworthiness of data related to the water discharge plan, citing a past data tampering scandal involving TEPCO.
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