S. Korea Sees Progress in Technical Study on Fukushima Plant

Jiji Press

8:13 JST, June 1, 2023

Seoul (Jiji Press)—An expert team of the South Korean government has seen progress in its study on Japan’s plan to release treated water from the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the team’s head said Wednesday.

Yoo Guk-hee, head of South Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, who is leading the inspection team, told a news conference in Seoul that progress has been made from the scientific and technical viewpoints.

Meanwhile, he avoided an assessment of the safety of treated water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant in northeastern Japan, which suffered a triple reactor meltdown caused by the March 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami, saying that additional analysis and confirmation work are needed for a more precise judgment.

The team visited Japan between May 21 and Friday.

On May 23-24, it visited the Fukushima No. 1 plant and inspected facilities linked to the planned water release intensively.

In Tokyo, the team held talks with officials mainly from the Japanese foreign and industry ministries, TEPCO and other related bodies.

Yoo explained that the team has obtained data from TEPCO on the treated water before and after the use of the Advanced Liquid Processing System, or ALPS, which removes radioactive materials.

He stressed that his team will comprehensively evaluate safety and disclose the assessment in a transparent manner after additional analysis and inquiries to the Japanese side.