Japan, South Korea eye visit by team of experts as Fukushima nuclear plant prepares water release

Officials from Japan and South Korea are discussing a visit by South Korean experts to the Fukushima nuclear plant before it begins the controversial release of treated but radioactive water into the sea.

The safety of the water is a major sticking point as the two sides work to improve long-strained ties.

Discussions were held Friday in Seoul and online, and the Japanese government was expected to give updates on the status of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

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Officials are preparing to release the water, saying it's an unavoidable step for the decommissioning process.

The government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the release will begin between spring and summer and take decades to finish.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant's cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation.

Water used to cool the three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, leaks into the basements of the reactor buildings and is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that now cover much of the plant.

The government and TEPCO say the tanks must be removed to make room to build facilities for the plant's decommissioning and to minimize the risk of leaks in case of another major disaster.

The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons in spring 2024.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during his May 7-8 visit to Seoul for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, announced that Japan will receive a team of experts at the plant later in May to address South Korea's concerns in a show of his desire to further improve relations.

Seoul wants to send some 20 government experts to visit the Fukushima Daiichi plant on May 23-24, although the group's actual size would be determined after talks with Japan, according to Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Korea's Office for Government Policy Coordination.

He told reporters Japan was reluctant to accept private experts, saying it's a government-to-government matter.

He said the plant visit is aimed at “reviewing the safety of the entire ocean discharge process,” including Japan's water treatment facility and its operation and technologies to measure contamination levels in treated water.

Asked whether Seoul would consider lifting its import ban on seafood from Fukushima if it determines Japan's water release plan is safe, Park replied “absolutely not,” citing South Korean public concerns and a need for deeper investigations into the environmental impact of the 2011 disaster.

Japan is expected to give them a tour — not a safety inspection — of the plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Thursday the visit would not affect the timing of a planned release of the water and that Japan continues to provide explanations about safety measures to aid understanding.

Japanese officials say the water will be safely filtered to below releasable levels by international standards and further diluted by large amounts of seawater before release, making it harmless to human health or marine life.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities concerned about safety and reputational damage.

Neighbouring countries, including South Korea, China and the Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns. South Korea and China ban food imports from around Fukushima and describe the water as “contaminated" instead of “treated.”

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans is still unknown and the release should be delayed.

Japan has been assisted by the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure credibility and transparency.

Historical disputes have strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul — most recently over the compensation of wartime Korean forced labourers during Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

But their relationship has thawed rapidly since March, when Yoon's government announced a local fund to compensate some of the former labourers.

Tokyo and Seoul, under pressure from Washington, share a sense of urgency to mend ties amid growing security threats in the region.