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Grossi Meets with Local Opponents of Plan to Release Radioactive Water From
Fukushima

by VOA News

   The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency met with local
   residents Wednesday to reassure them about the Japanese government's
   plan to release thousands of liters of treated radioactive wastewater
   from the wreckage of the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

   International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi attended a
   meeting of local officials and representatives of fishing communities
   in the town of Iwaki, about 40 kilometers south of Fukushima.

   Grossi presented the IAEA's formal review and ultimate approval of
   Japan's plan to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo Tuesday.

   Japan says the radioactive water, which was used to cool the nuclear
   fuel rods at Fukushima after the 2011 disaster, has been diluted to
   levels well below international standards, and will be slowly released
   into the ocean over several decades.

   Grossi said the plan to release treated radioactive wastewater from
   Fukushima adhered to global safety standards and "would have a
   negligible radiological impact on people and the environment" in a
   written forward to the report, which was completed after a two-year
   long review.

   But fishing organizations say the plan will damage their reputation
   among Japan's neighbors over concerns of possible contamination of
   fishing waters near Fukushima, namely China, which has vocally
   expressed its opposition against the plan as recently as Tuesday.

   Fukushima fishing association chief Tetsu Nozaki criticized the
   government in Wednesday's meeting for going ahead despite the
   association's strong opposition.

   Grossi told the attendees he does not have a magic solution to the
   situation, but promised that the IAEA "will stay here with you for
   decades to come until the last drop of water" from Fukushima "has been
   safely discharged."

   Grossi is expected to visit Fukushima Wednesday and open a permanent
   IAEA office that will oversee the release efforts. He will travel to
   South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands after his visit to Japan
   to ease concerns about the plan.

   The Fukushima plant became inoperable on March 11, 2011, when a
   9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that swept across
   northeastern Japan before reaching Fukushima prefecture.

   The high waves knocked out the plant's power supply and cooling systems
   and led to a meltdown of three reactors, sending massive amounts of
   radiation into the air and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of
   thousands of residents, making it the world's worst nuclear disaster
   since the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

   Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and
   Reuters.