"IAEA Secretary-General Coordinates Visit to Korea Next Month to Explain Contaminated Water Verification Results"

Coordination of Visits to Korea, New Zealand, and Cook Islands After Japan Trip
Explanation of Contaminated Water Verification Results... Will Official Approval for Discharge Follow?

Raphael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is reportedly coordinating his schedule to visit countries directly affected by the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, including South Korea, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands, following his visit to Japan on the 4th of next month, according to Japanese media. As Japan's contaminated water discharge enters its final countdown and the IAEA is increasingly likely to conclude that there are no issues, this move is interpreted as an effort to explain the verification results to each country and formalize approval for the discharge.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 29th, Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Director General Grossi plans to visit Japan on the 4th of next month to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and then visit South Korea, New Zealand, and the Pacific island nation of the Cook Islands. During this period, Grossi is expected to release a report containing the IAEA's final verification results regarding the contaminated water discharge plan and explain the contents to each country.

The final report to be released by the IAEA is highly likely to include a conclusion that there are no problems with Japan's contaminated water discharge. This is because the IAEA has previously published an interim report evaluating the discharge methods and facilities of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as appropriate.

According to Yomiuri, the Japanese government hopes that Grossi's visits to the three countries will ease public opposition to the contaminated water discharge. Since the Japanese government has consistently maintained that it will make decisions on the discharge based on the IAEA's verification results, it is expected that statements from the IAEA Director General will influence negative public opinion regarding the discharge.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

TEPCO has also begun full-scale preparations for the discharge in line with the timing of the IAEA report release. Since the 12th, it has started trial operations of the discharge facilities, and the construction of the underwater tunnel for diluting and releasing the contaminated water into the ocean has been completed.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan has been conducting final inspections before the contaminated water discharge since the previous day. If there are no issues with the results, a certificate of inspection completion will be issued to TEPCO about a week after the inspection ends, in early next month. With this certificate, the marine discharge of contaminated water will be possible.

The timing of the discharge is expected to be decided by Prime Minister Kishida, as there is strong opposition to the discharge from local fishermen near Fukushima and others within the country. For the time being, it is highly likely that efforts to persuade local residents will proceed in step with Director General Grossi's activities.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Yomiuri also pointedly criticized the positions of countries opposing the contaminated water discharge in its report. Regarding South Korea, it stated that "there is strong aversion to the contaminated water discharge," and added, "In South Korea, the opposition parties continue to make baseless claims that stir public anxiety, using them as material to shake the Yoon Suk-yeol administration by accusing it of 'not trying to protect the people.'"

It also mentioned China, saying, "The Chinese government repeatedly makes scientifically unfounded claims that the Pacific Ocean is not a sewer into which Japan is discharging radioactive contaminated water." Furthermore, it noted, "The Cook Islands, as the chair country of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), have a traditionally deep-rooted anti-nuclear sentiment in the South Pacific due to repeated nuclear tests by the United States and France in the past."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.