MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th April, 2021) The South Korean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Japanese Ambassador Koichi Aiboshi over Tokyo's decision to discharge contaminated wastewater from the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) into the sea, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Earlier in the day, the Kyodo news agency reported that Japan had finalized a decision to release some 1.2 million tonnes of toxic water into the ocean, as the NPP was running out of storage capacity. Despite neighboring states' concerns, Japan's leadership said there would be no negative impact on the environment or human health.
According to Yonhap, South Korean Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon has met with Aiboshi in Seoul to lodge a protest and express regrets over Tokyo's lack of consultations with South Korea and other neighboring countries.
"Our position is that a decision should not be made unless there is a clear assessment on what impact it would have on people's health and the marine environment," Choi said, as cited by the news agency.
Aiboshi, on his part, said that Japan was aware of the neighbors' concerns but reaffirmed that the release of wastewater would do no harm to the ocean.
"Our simulation result shows that the sea area with tritium above the normal concentration level would be confined to within the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant," the Japanese diplomat said, adding that "it will not have an adverse impact on the marine environment in the neighboring countries, including South Korea."
Japan warned in December that it was running out of storage capacity and would release the water used to cool the Fukushima Daiichi reactor into the Pacific in 2021. The wastewater discharge is now planned for 2023, but only after it is greenlighted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
The Fukushima NPP was heavily damaged in March 2011 after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean triggered a massive tsunami that hit the plant and caused three nuclear reactors to melt down.
