South Korean Experts to Visit Japan Nuclear Plant Amid Dispute

Isabel Reynolds
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- A delegation of South Korean experts will visit Japan from May 22-25 to gather information on the planned release of treated waste water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

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The group plans to hold a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday. It will then visit the plant on Wednesday and Thursday to receive explanations from Japanese officials, the ministry said in an emailed statement Friday.

Plans for the release have caused widespread concern in South Korea, with the disagreement between the neighbors posing a potential threat to the recent rapprochement between the two governments. President Yoon Suk Yeol has sought to repair ties in an effort to build a bulwark against regional threats, and is set to hold his third summit since March with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this weekend.

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The Japanese utility giant Tepco is planning to release more than 1 million cubic meters of treated radioactive water — enough to fill 500 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, part of its nearly $200 billion effort to clean up the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.

Japan’s government has argued the release of the water can be done safely and is necessary, as storage space is running out at the plant. The nation’s nuclear regulator last year approved the release plan, which includes removing most radioactive elements and diluting the water, then releasing it about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) offshore using an undersea tunnel.

“As it is so close there is ongoing frustration and anxiety especially among the people engaged in fisheries,” Korea National Diplomatic Academy Chancellor Park Cheol Hee, an adviser to Yoon, told reporters earlier this week. He called on Japan to be “modest and humble” in explaining the issue.

China and Taiwan have also expressed concerns about the effects on the environment of the release, which comes as earthquake-prone Japan seeks to increase its use of nuclear power to help meet its climate change goals.

--With assistance from Stephen Stapczynski.

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