China Likely to Join IAEA’s Fukushima Treated Water Monitoring; Deal With Japan Allows PRC to Conduct Analysis Before Lifting Import Ban

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:50 JST, November 12, 2024

China is expected to join the International Atomic Energy Agency’s monitoring program to analyze treated water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant before it is discharged into the sea off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, according to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.

China plans to join the monitoring early next year, the ministry said during a meeting in Iwaki on Monday.

Although China has imposed a blanket ban on imports of Japanese marine products, the Japanese and Chinese governments agreed in September to a deal in which imports will resume, provided that the IAEA expands its monitoring activities and China is allowed to conduct its own analysis.

As part of this agreement, China participated in the IAEA’s sampling of seawater off the coast of the plant in October.