South Korean Experts To Begin 2-Day Inspection At Japan's Fukushima NPP - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2023) South Korean experts will begin a two-day inspection of the planned radioactive water discharge at Japan's notorious Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP) on Tuesday, South Korean media reported.

Twenty-one experts from South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will arrive at the plant on Tuesday morning and start by inspecting the water purification system to assess whether the water is clear enough to be released into the sea, Yonhap news agency reported. The group will also visit and inspect radioactive tanks.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Tokyo's inspection mission is aimed at addressing South Koreans' concerns about the safety of the released water.

The team of experts will hold "in-depth technical discussions" with their Japanese counterparts on Thursday before leaving for Seoul, the report said.

The inspections were agreed at a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier this month, signaling a thaw in relations between Tokyo and Seoul.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred on March 11, 2011, when the local nuclear power plant was severely damaged by a magnitude 9 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, which triggered a massive tsunami that hit the plant and caused three nuclear reactors to melt down. The accident resulted in the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis, causing massive radiation exposure and contamination of surrounding waters.

In 2021, Japan announced its plans to dispose of Fukushima's treated water. The International Atomic Energy Agency's commission visited the plant last year and gave a positive preliminary assessment of Japan's preparations for water discharge. On January 13, a Japanese government commission decided to delay the discharge of low-level radioactive water from the plant from spring 2023 to summer.