Seoul supports Fukushima water plan as China imposes ban on Japanese food

South Korea has stated that it believes that the plan of Japan to release water treated from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant will be able to meet international standards, a few days after a United Nations atomic agency, in its review of the controversial proposal, found it to be safe as China imposed a ban on import of food products from 10 Japanese prefectures, citing safety reasons.

Seoul stated that its own assessments, which are based on the plant's inspection in late May, the data collected, review of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA’s suggested that there is no danger in releasing more than 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean if it is carried out according to the proposal.

“We have confirmed the concentration of radioactive material meets standards for ocean discharge … and therefore, the plan meets international standards including those of the IAEA,” said Bang Moon-kyu, Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, in a briefing on Friday.

IAEA chief says ‘completely safe' to release treated wastewater

Assuring the safety of the water to be released, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said even though fears over the proposed plan reflect a “very logical sense of uncertainty” that should be considered seriously, he is “completely convinced of the sound basis of our conclusions.”

“We have been looking at this basic policy for more than two years. We have been assessing it against … the most stringent standards that exist,” Grossi said while speaking to CNN on Friday.

“And we are quite certain of what we are saying, and the scheme we have proposed," he added.

China imposes ban on Japanese food

China’s customs department on Friday announced a ban on the import of food products, coming from 10 Japanese prefectures, citing safety reasons and said that it would increase testing for radioactive substances.

In a statement, the department said that it will enhance monitoring of products which include seafood and continue to place curbs on produce coming from one-fifth of Japan's prefectures due to safety reasons.

WATCH |Japan set to release water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific

China will "strengthen supervision" and "rigorously examine" certificates for food imports, which will especially include aquatic products coming from the other non-banned prefectures, said the administration, emphasising restrictions on the 10 prefectures that are in place.

"The Japanese side still has many problems in the legitimacy of sea discharge, the reliability of purification equipment and the perfection of monitoring programmes," said Chinese customs.

It stated that the report prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fails to fully reflect the views of all experts who are involved in the assessment process, and they did not endorse the conclusions unanimously.

The UN nuclear watchdog approved Japan's plan on Tuesday, as it faced opposition at home and abroad. Japan insists that the water released will be safe and will meet global standards.

(With inputs from agencies)

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