Japan Briefs Int'l Community on N-Plant Water Release

   Vienna, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government Tuesday provided the international community an update on the decommissioning work at the meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.
   The briefing was conducted on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's annual general conference in Vienna, at which world leaders engaging in general debate mentioned Japan's release of radioactive tritium-containing treated water from the Fukushima plant into the ocean less frequently than in the previous year's meeting.
   Tokyo hosted an event on the decommissioning process and the revitalization of Fukushima Prefecture at the general assembly venue. Representatives from the industry ministry and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. explained that the country has begun trial work to remove nuclear fuel debris from a reactor and that former residents still remain unable to return to some districts in Fukushima.
   Gustavo Caruso, director and coordinator at the IAEA's Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, which is monitoring the water release, took the stage at the event. Caruso said that the treated water is not "contaminated water," but "water after the process of cleaning," while stressing that his position is independent from Tokyo.
   In a general debate speech Monday, the Chinese representative expressed strong opposition to the "discharge of contaminated water into the sea." But Beijing did not engage with Japan's argument that the term "contaminated water" is inappropriate, in stark contrast to the heated exchange between the two Asian countries at last year's meeting.

(2024/09/18-09:03)

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