Global Courant
Hundreds of people marched in Seoul on Saturday to demand Japan scrap plans to discharge treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, while the head of the United Nations nuclear agency met with senior officials to discuss food safety concerns .
The protests came a day after South Korea’s government formally endorsed the safety of Japan’s plans. work as designed.
The announcement echoes the views of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which this week approved Japan’s discharge plans, saying the treated wastewater would meet international safety standards and have negligible environmental and health impacts.
While braving the sweltering summer heat and being closely watched by police, the protesters lined up in long lines through a commercial district in downtown Seoul, holding signs that read: “We reject the disposal of the nuclear wastewater from Fukushima into the sea!” and, “We resist the sea runoff with our lives.”
The marches were peaceful and there were no immediate reports of major clashes or injuries.
“Besides discharging the water into the sea, there is an option to store the water on their land and other options are being proposed,” said Han Sang-jin, spokesman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, whose members are well for many of the protesters.
He said allowing Japan to dump the water “is like an international crime”.
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Saturday’s protest provided a tense backdrop for a meeting between IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin.
At their meeting, Park called for “active cooperation” from the IAEA to more clearly verify the safety of the discharged wastewater and reassure the South Korean public, the State Department said.
Earlier this week, the agency said a biennial review found Japan’s plans to release water would have a negligible impact on the environment.
South Korea’s government has said it respects the IAEA’s report and that its own analysis has found the release will not have a “meaningful impact” on its waters.
The director general of the IAEA faces angry protesters
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Friday before his flight to South Korea, Grossi said he was aware of the unease in the country and was willing to communicate more actively with critics, including South Korean opposition politicians, to allay concerns. to take.
Hours later, he was greeted by dozens of angry protesters at an airport near Seoul. They denounced the IAEA’s support for the discharge plans, holding signs reading “Dismantling IAEA!” and “Fukushima’s sewage will surely lead all of humanity to disaster!”
Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the IAEA, speaks to The Associated Press in Tokyo on Friday. Before leaving for South Korea, he told reporters he was aware of concerns about Japan’s plans for wastewater discharge in Fukushima. (Shuji Kajiyama/The Associated Press)
Grossi is expected to meet on Sunday with lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Party, which has sharply criticized Japan’s layoff plans and accused the conservative government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of putting the country’s health at risk. as she desperately tries to improve relations with Tokyo. .
The safety of Fukushima’s wastewater has been a sensitive issue for years between US allies South Korea and Japan, who in recent months have worked to mend relations long strained over historical wartime grievances to address common concerns. such as the North Korean nuclear threat and China’s assertive foreign policy.
South Korea’s assessment of the safety of the discharge plan was based in part on observations made by a team of government scientists who toured the Fukushima plant in May.
A massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant’s cooling systems, melting three reactors and releasing large amounts of radiation.
Protesters in Seoul make their way to the Japanese embassy on Saturday to protest Japan’s plans to release sewage in Fukushima. (Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press)
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the facility, has stored the treated water in hundreds of tanks that now occupy most of the plant and are nearly full.
Japanese officials say the tanks should be removed to make room for the construction of decommissioning facilities at the plant and to minimize the risk of spills in the event of another major disaster. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.24 million tons in early 2024.
Japan first announced plans to discharge the treated water into the sea in 2018, saying the water would be further diluted by seawater before being released in a carefully controlled process that will take decades.
