On the “green roof”, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, observed where the water is treated before being transported by a black pipe from the sampling and mixing tanks to the coastal facility where it is diluted at least 100 times with sea water. It will then be released into the Pacific Ocean 1,000 yards (1 kilometer) offshore through an underwater tunnel.
Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the company that operates the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, accompanied and briefed Grossi, explaining that seawater for dilution is taken from an area far from the damaged reactors and that water from the last well of dilution can be analyzed before it reaches the ocean.
Grossi’s visit to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which will end with a boat trip to the point where the water will be discharged, was one of the highlights of his four-day visit to Japan at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry.
The Japanese government has tried to gain credibility for its discharge plan, which continues to face persistent opposition both at home and abroad.
Earlier on Wednesday, Grossi participated in a meeting with government and utility officials, as well as local mayors and heads of fishing associations, noting his agency’s continued presence during the unloading process to ensure their safety and address the concerns of fishermen. residents.
“What is happening is not something exceptional, a strange plan that has been devised just to apply it here and sell it to you,” Grossi said in a speech in Iwaki, about 40 km (25 miles) south of the plant. This is, as certified by the IAEA, the general practice agreed upon and observed in many, many places around the world.”
The IAEA will review, inspect and test the plan for decades to come, he added.
In its final report on Tuesday, the UN agency concluded that the plan to discharge radioactive wastewater into the sea meets international standards and that its environmental and health impact will be negligible.
But local fishing organizations reject the plan because they fear the damage to their reputations even if the catches are not contaminated. Groups from South Korea, China and some Pacific island states are against it for security and political reasons.
FUENTE: Associated Press
