UN atomic agency, Japan agree on continuous safety review of discharge of water from Fukushima plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Japan signed an agreement on Monday, (September 18) setting out the full scope of the agency’s comprehensive and continuous safety review of the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. According to a statement, the agreement was signed by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

"The IAEA has been reviewing the safety of Japan’s plan on how to handle the treated water since it was first announced in 2021 and today’s agreement focuses on the Agency’s long-term activities during the discharge itself," the statement said.

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The five main areas under the agreement

The agreement has identified five main areas of the UN atomic agency's safety review work- 1) Monitoring and assessment, focused on the protection of people and the environment; 2) The IAEA’s presence in Japan and at the FDNSP, including for conducting onsite analysis; 3) Regular Agency review missions; 4) Corroboration of Japan’s source and environmental monitoring based on independent sampling and analysis; and 5) Outreach and awareness activities, including sharing key information with the public.

The statement said that these areas would enable the IAEA to check that the relevant international safety standards are constantly applied during the discharge, backed up with real-time and other monitoring data on its website.

IAEA Director General Grossi said that the agreement set broad parameters for the agency’s "permanent presence at the site to implement the monitoring, corroboration and assessment activities that are indispensable for transparency and for building confidence – both in Japan and abroad – that the discharge will neither harm people nor the environment."

The Japanese government started releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima plant last month, sparking international concerns, especially from China which banned all seafood imports from Japan.

Don't see any transparency from Tokyo over water discharge: Russia

Nearly a week back, Russia said that it was concerned about the discharge of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima plant and called on Tokyo to give detailed information about the process.

Speaking to reporters on September 13, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, "Unfortunately, we do not see any transparency, openness, clarity in Tokyo's actions. And that is exactly what we are calling for. We see the endless statements, certain advertising stunts like serving fish, apparently caught from this discharged water. We understand what that's worth."

"We expect that Japan will finally provide a detailed explanation about all aspects that other countries are interested in, in part our country (Russia). This (interest) is connected with future discharges of water. We base things on the (expectation) that, in case of necessity, Tokyo would allow monitoring of the radiological situation in those areas where the discharge is taking place," she added.

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