Seoul, Tokyo at odds over inspection of Fukushima nuclear power plant

An aerial view shows the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo News on March 17, 2022. Reuters-Yonhap

Foreign ministries hold meeting to discuss details on experts' visit

By Lee Hyo-jin

Korea and Japan are apparently at odds over the exact purpose and role of a Korean inspection team, which is set to be dispatched to the tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima later this month.

Seoul is seeking an on-site inspection to evaluate the safety of Japan's planned release of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, while Tokyo seems to perceive the visit more as an opportunity to brief its neighbor country before beginning the discharge process as early as this summer.

Under an agreement reached during a summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on May 7, a group of local experts will travel to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on May 23 and stay for a couple days, or possibly a longer period.

"The purpose of the inspection is to conduct an overall safety review of discharging the water into the ocean. The experts will check that Japan's water treatment capacity and the operation of discharge facilities, as well as the information needed for our own scientific and technical analysis," Park Ku-yeon, a senior official at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said during a briefing, Friday.

Park added that the experts will be able to examine the Advanced Liquid Process System (ALPS) which is a filtration process used to remove radioactive contamination from the water, and possibly obtain their own raw data. But the official noted that collecting samples of treated water does not seem feasible.

This is in contrast to Tuesday's remarks by Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura who said that the purpose of the inspection is not to "evaluate or certify the safety of the treated water."

The inspection team is likely to be comprised of some 20 experts, but members of civic groups are unlikely to be included due to strong opposition from the Japanese government.

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The details regarding the size of the team and inspection plan will be decided next week based on working-level discussions between the foreign ministries of both nations.

Yoon Hyun-soo, head of the Korean foreign ministry's bureau for climate change, energy, environment and scientific affairs, met on Friday with Atsushi Kaifu, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's disarmament, non-proliferation and science department to discuss the issue.

Park Ku-yeon, a senior official at the Office for Government Policy Coordination speaks during a briefing held at the Government Complex Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Park stressed that Korea is the first International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member state to conduct an on-site inspection of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

However, it is unclear whether Japan will grant sufficient access to the Korean inspection team. In its press release issued on Thursday, the Japanese foreign ministry called the meeting between Yoon and Kaifu a briefing session on the current status of ALPS-treated water.

The differing tone from the Korean foreign ministry has sparked concerns that the inspection team will not be given the opportunity to conduct a thorough investigation to verify the safety of the radioactive water.

A Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) worker cleans a tank with flounder fish in the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) treated water, at the marine organisms rearing test facility in the now-defunct Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, March 8. Reuters-Yonhap

'Treated water' or 'contaminated water'?

The use of terminology referring to the radioactive water may also arise as a source of debate between the two nations ahead of the planned inspection. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) was stung by criticism sparked here after it suggested that the government should consider using the term "treated water" instead of "contaminated water," which is more widely used here currently.

"Considering that the water that is set to be released has undergone a filtration process to meet international standards, it seems appropriate to call it 'treated' wastewater," Rep. Sung Il-jong of the PPP said during a radio interview, Thursday.

"Treated water" is the term used by the Japanese government in official documents, as it claims that the contaminated water has been filtered to ensure that the radioactive materials, other than tritium, meet the regulatory standards for safety.

However, many scientists overseas have been calling it contaminated water, pointing out Tokyo's lack of research into tritium's impact on marine ecosystems and the food chain. Also, low levels of some other radionuclides still remain in the filtered water.

During Friday's briefing, Park said that the government is currently not reviewing replacing the term "contaminated" with "treated" but added that the issue may be up for consideration depending on the IAEA's definitions.

In its reports, the IAEA uses both expressions depending on the filtration process. It uses "treated water" when referring to the water that has undergone ALPS, while the water that has not been filtered is "contaminated."