UN says water discharge from Fukushima nuclear plant is not harmful

“CWe were able to confirm that the first discharges of water did not contain radionuclides at harmful levels,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during a visit to Stockholm.

“The first discharges are in line with our expectations, but we will continue to monitor the situation”, guaranteed Grossi.

On August 24, the IAEA had reported that the concentration of the radioactive substance tritium was “well below the acceptable limit of 1,500 becquerels (Bq) per liter”, a level well below Japan’s national standard for water.

The discharge of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant – which suffered an accident in March 2011, with three of its six reactors melting and contaminating the land in the vicinity of the complex after an earthquake and a tsunami – has raised fears among Japanese fishermen, but also strong opposition from China, which has suspended imports of aquatic products from Japan.

During the visit to the Swedish capital, the director general of the IAEA, an agency that integrates the UN system, also spoke about cooperation with Iran and the attempts to recover the international agreement on the controversial nuclear program of Tehran – after the abandonment unilateral decision by the United States in 2018 -, stating that the pace of reinstallation of observation cameras at Iranian nuclear facilities is still too slow.

“We are trying to reinstall those chambers, the work has started, but it is not progressing at the pace we had hoped”, admitted Grossi.

On his return from a visit to Tehran in March, Grossi had praised Iran’s promise to restart these surveillance devices, which had been turned off in June 2022, in a context of deteriorating relations with Western powers.

“We are awaiting clarification from Iran on the traces of uranium that were found. This is an ongoing process that can be improved,” said Grossi, referring to progress in negotiations with Tehran.

Also Read: WHO assures that Japan respects norms in the discharge of nuclear power plant