The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit Japan on Tuesday to present the findings of its safety review of the country's plan to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, the government said Friday.
During his four-day stay, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will also inaugurate an IAEA office at the site of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which was devastated by a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in March 2011, an agency official said.
Grossi is expected to meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday to hand over the safety assessment.
At the new field office, members of the IAEA task force that conducted the safety review will be stationed around the time the water discharge begins, according to the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.
The wastewater has been treated using an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS, that removes most radionuclides except for tritium.
Kishida's government will review the IAEA assessment before making a definitive decision regarding the timing of the water discharge, which the government and TEPCO have aimed to begin around this summer.
On Friday, Kishida instructed relevant ministries to continue efforts to gain understanding at the local and international levels amid concerns that the water could pose risks to the marine environment, food safety and human health.
Neighboring China and Russia have expressed opposition to the discharge plan, as have local fishermen worried about the potential reputational damage to their products.
In May, a South Korean delegation of experts from government agencies and affiliated organizations visited the crippled Fukushima power plant for inspections amid public concern in their country over the potential impact of the discharge.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference that Kishida expressed the government's readiness to take thorough measures to ensure the safety and prevent reputational damage as well as provide accurate information about the water discharge.
Industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a separate press conference that the construction of discharge facilities was completed Monday, and the Nuclear Regulation Authority is currently conducting its final safety screening of them.
"We will continue our efforts to sincerely listen to opinions and requests of people involved in fisheries, as well as explain (the discharge plan) to them, including the content of the IAEA report," he said.
Japan first announced its policy of discharging the ALPS-processed water in April 2021 and requested the IAEA to review the safety of the plan against international standards, which serve as a global reference for protecting people and the environment from the harms of ionizing radiation, according to the IAEA.
At the plant, water injected into reactors for cooling, along with groundwater and rain flowing into the reactor buildings, becomes contaminated by directly contacting melted fuel or mixing with radioactive water accumulated in the buildings.
Such water undergoes treatment to remove radioactive materials in stages before being stored in tanks, which occupy a large area of the site.
TEPCO said it must free up space to advance decommissioning work of the defunct reactors by disposing of treated water in the tanks.
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