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Woo Won-shik, an advisor to the Democratic Party’s committee for blocking the dumping of the irradiated Fukushima water into the ocean, speaks during a meeting of the party’s lawmakers with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi at the National Assembly on July 9. (Yonhap)

During a meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Democratic Party lawmakers harshly criticized the agency’s comprehensive report that greenlit Japan’s plan to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, calling its verification “biased toward Japan.”

Rafael Grossi, the IAEA’s director general, did not respond to the Democratic Party’s call for Japan to come up with alternatives to discharging the radioactive water, but he did agree with the suggestion that a consultative group of other international organizations should be established to verify the contaminated water.

Five lawmakers from the Democratic Party’s committee for blocking the dumping of the irradiated Fukushima water into the ocean met with Grossi for about an hour and 35 minutes at the National Assembly at the request of the Democratic Party.

In his opening remarks before the press, lawmaker Woo Won-shik, an advisor to the task force, said, “The IAEA has limited itself to only providing technical support for the discharge and a safety review of the Japanese government’s request, without examining other alternatives.”

Woo called the agency’s verification “biased in favor of Japan from the very beginning, which makes it lose all claims of neutrality and objectivity.”

“It is very regrettable that the report is a ‘self-verification’ and a study that was tailored to Japan without properly investigating the impact of the discharge on neighboring countries,” said Woo, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 14 days to stop the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water.

“If you think [the wastewater] is safe, I wonder whether you would be willing to suggest the Japanese government use that water for drinking or for industrial and agricultural purposes, rather than dumping it in the sea,” he said.

The task force’s chairperson, Wi Seong-gon, also expressed concerns.

"The IAEA has not reviewed criticisms regarding violations of the General Safety Guide in order to justify the discharge of contaminated water or identified viable alternatives,” Wi said. “Instead, it’s passed this responsibility to the Japanese government.”

He also pointed out that allowing the discharge of contaminated Fukushima water could “set the stage for the dumping of high-level nuclear waste into the ocean all around the world."

In his opening remarks to the lawmakers, Grossi stated that he “wholeheartedly understood” various worries and concerns. “Our conclusion has been that this plan, if it is carried out in the way it has been presented, would be in line, would be in conformity with the international safety standards,” he said.

A seemingly abashed Grossi smiled wryly when faced with the barrage of forceful remarks from lawmakers. Within the National Assembly building, cries of “Go home, Grossi” could be heard from citizens outside protesting the contaminated water’s release.

During the meeting, the Democratic Party proposed considering alternative approaches such as storing the radioactive material in solid form rather than dumping it in the sea and requesting that Japan postpone its schedule for releasing the water, but these suggestions received no response from Grossi, Democratic Party floor spokesperson Lee So-young said.

But she added that Grossi did seem to express his support for a proposal that the IAEA establish new governance with the World Health Organization and other international bodies to review and analyze the contaminated water issue.

“Director General Grossi acknowledged that today’s meeting would not be enough and indicated that he would seriously address the questions and proposals raised today,” she said.

The same day, the IAEA sent responses to 14 questions submitted in writing by the Democratic Party. The party plans to make the responses public after an internal examination.

By Lee Woo-yun, staff reporter

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