Rafael Mariano Grossi (right) in Japan to present IAEA report to TEPCO in 2023. Photo: Supplied/IAEA
The United Nations' nuclear watchdog is travelling to New Zealand and Rarotonga to present its report on the Safety Review of the Advanced Liquid Processing System or ALPS-treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
Japan's discharge of more than one-million tonnes of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean is expected to start imminently, following the release of the report.
"As stewards of the Pacific Ocean, it is incumbent upon us to leave no stones unturned in our collective effort to leave behind for our future generations a healthy and resilient ocean," Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said.
The visit comes after backlash from anti-nuclear activists across the region and uncertainty from some Pacific leaders.
The 18 members of the PIF have differing views on the issue.
Brown said the Troika, so past, present and future chairs have met and agreed on the need for decisions on the future of the Pacific Ocean to be informed by independent and verifiable scientific assessments.
"We have continued to uphold our commitments under the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty (the Rarotonga Treaty), including the prevention of nuclear contamination, whether by direct means or through transboundary impact," Brown said.
The Forum has commissioned an independent panel of experts who have called out the Agency, even going as far as to say their latest report is egregious.
Dumping: 'worst option'
A Pacific Island Forum Panellist has said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a lot of explaining to do in its upcoming trip.
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research president Dr Arjun Makhijani, who has more than half a century of expertise, said the panel has raised some very difficult questions for the IAEA.
"I think it's [releasing wastewater] one of the worst ways to deal with it. We have to stop, dilution is the solution to pollution," Makhijani said.
First, he found it "very interesting" how eager the IAEA had been to say this was going to have a "negligible impact" and it would all be fine.
Makhijani said the IAEA overstated well-known facts about tritium back in June and silently corrected its statement in its latest report.
"That's how egregious this process has been, in terms of the IAEA's eagerness to bless this issue," he said.
Furthermore, he is outraged that the IAEA and Japan have so far "ignored" the Expert Panel's proposal that the water could be treated and turned into concrete and then used at the Fukushima site.
"Tritium emits only relatively low energy beta particles, which will be almost completely blocked by the concrete," he said.
The IAEA has ruled this out as not being within its scope, but
Makhijani said a comparison of alternatives was normal in assessing compliance.
These are just two examples of issues and frustrations raised by the experts who all have differing views of their own.
Some disagree with Makhijani's frustrations and trust Japan and believe releasing the treated wastewater into the ocean is indeed the safest option.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is expected to be in Auckland on Monday and then Rarotonga the following day.
Rafael Mariano Grossi in Japan to present IAEA report to TEPCO in 2023. Photo: Supplied/IAEA
What next?
A date for release has still not yet been set.
Tokyo Electric Power Company is holding a virtual press conference on Friday, 21 July.
They said it would be to give an update on the status of the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Okuma town pictured on 7 April, 2021. Photo: Koji Ito / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP