UN Nuke Agency Chief To Visit Fukushima Plant

The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency will visit Japan next week to meet with Japanese leaders and see final preparations for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Photo Insert: Government officials said the visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi will add credibility to the project to discharge tons of water into the ocean.

Government officials said the visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi will add credibility to the project to discharge tons of water into the ocean.

The plan has been strongly opposed by local fishing groups and by neighboring South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations, citing safety concerns.

Grossi will visit July 4-7. He is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and also visit the Fukushima plant, which was crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Asahi Shimbun also reported.

“Japan attaches great importance to the efforts of the IAEA, which serves an important role in promoting nuclear nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy,” Hayashi said. “We hope to further strengthen ties between Japan and the IAEA through his visit.”

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, has completed construction of the equipment needed for the planned release, and Japanese regulators were finishing their final inspection on June 30.

If everything goes according to plan, TEPCO is expected to receive a permit in about a week to begin the discharge, though the starting date is still undecided, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Environmental activists in South Korea staged a protest on June 30 outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

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