Seoul reports hardly any impact from Fukushima cooling water disposal

Seoul, Jul. 7, (dpa/GNA) – The discharge of treated cooling water from the ruins of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea is expected to have little impact on the waters around South Korea, the government in Seoul said on Friday.

In a final report on independent investigations by South Korea into the neighbouring country’s controversial disposal plans, the South Korean government assumes that radiation exposure will be extremely low.

Japan’s plans are in line with the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other global standards, Ban Moon Kyu, minister for the Office for the Coordination of Government Policies, said before the arrival of IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in Seoul.

According to the plan, “the concentration of radioactive substances” will also meet ocean discharge standards. The ALPS technical system used to filter cooling water at Fukushima has gradually improved and stabilized, Ban said.

The result of simulations shows that it could take up to 10 years for the contaminated water to reach South Korean marine waters. However, this process would not have any significant consequences as long as the plans were carried out in their current form, Ban said.

The assessment followed Grossi’s statement during a visit to Tokyo this week to give Japan the green light to release huge quantities of filtered cooling water.

South Korea itself had sent a larger group of experts to the neighbouring country in May to review the safety of the planned dumping.

Japan’s plans have caused great concern in South Korea.

Meanwhile, China has imposed an import ban on food from a total of 10 Japanese prefectures over safety concerns about contaminated water from Fukushima, the Chinese customs authority announced on Friday

Food imports from the remaining parts of Japan will also be strictly monitored in future. The customs authority’s statement said that it wants to prevent radioactively contaminated food from reaching China.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns in 2011 as a result of an earthquake and a tsunami. The destroyed reactors still have to be cooled with water stored in huge tanks. The water is to be filtered through a tunnel built about 1 kilometre into the sea and disposed of in diluted form.

GNA