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IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi delivers his agency’s final report on the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power station to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan at the latter’s residence in Tokyo on July 4. (Reuters/Yonhap)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has sided with the Japanese government’s position on the safety of discharging radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, concluding that it is “consistent with relevant international safety standards” and “would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”

With the IAEA’s blessing, the Japanese government will begin releasing 1.33 million tons of treated water that is still contaminated with radionuclides into the ocean this summer, as part of a process that will last 30-40 years. But given the strong currents of distrust and opposition within both Japan and the international community, the issue isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.

On Tuesday afternoon, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi visited the residence of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo to present the organization’s final report about the safety of releasing the contaminated water, called the “IAEA Comprehensive Report on the Safety Review of the ALPS-Treated Water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.”

“The approach and activities [related] to the discharge of ALPS treated water taken by Japan are consistent with relevant international safety standards,” the IAEA said in its 129-page report. “The controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water to the sea [. . .] would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”

After receiving the report, Kishida said, “As a responsible leader in the international community, I would never approve a discharge [of treated water] that would have a negative impact on the environment and the health of people in Japan and around the world.”

“People in Japan and elsewhere will be provided thorough explanations that are based in science and highly transparent,” he added.

The Japanese government asked the IAEA to review the safety of its plan to release the treated water after approving that plan in April 2021. The final report is based on six separate reports that the IAEA published between April 2022 and May 2023.

Considering that an interim report had earlier found no issues with the safety of the planned release, the final report was expected to reach the same conclusion. That prompted critics to say the report’s conclusion had been decided even before it was written.

In an apparent response to such criticism, Grossi said during a press conference at a press club in Tokyo that the IAEA would set up an office at the Fukushima nuclear plant to continue reviewing the discharge’s safety.

When asked about the purpose of visits to South Korea (July 7-9), New Zealand and the Cook Islands, all countries that have strongly opposed the discharge of treated water, Grossi spoke of the need for a comprehensive, neutral, objective and scientific assessment of the discharge and stressed that his responsibility is to respond to a variety of opinions.

The discharge of treated water can now begin as soon as Kishida gives the word.

The prime minister said during a meeting with leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday morning that agencies across the Japanese government would cooperate to ensure safety, counteract losses caused by rumors, and provide helpful explanations and information both to people in Fukushima and to the international community.

Once the discharge of the contaminated water begins, observers will need to verify that the water was treated prior to release as planned, that relevant information is being provided transparently, and that the discharge’s impact on the human body and the ecosystem is being strictly monitored.

While the release of the IAEA report cleared away the final obstacle to Japan’s planned discharge of the water at Fukushima, the Korean government didn’t release a statement.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its definite opposition to the discharge, stating that “The report cannot greenlight the discharge as it cannot prove that ocean discharge is the only option or the safest and most reliable option.”

By Kim So-youn, Tokyo correspondent

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