IAEA to review treated water at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant

The IAEA review mission will visit Japan from 14-18 February.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) review mission will be visiting Japan to verify the safety of the treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs).

The visit will be between 14 and 18 February, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc. (JAIF). The mission will also review preparations made ahead of the release of the treated water in the spring of 2023.

The mission’s visit was initially scheduled in December 2021, but was delayed after the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 led to stricter entry requirements for non-Japanese.

This will be the first visit of an IAEA review mission, relating to the release of advanced liquid processing system-treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi NPPs of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

The mission will include IAEA officials, and 11 international experts, some of whom are from South Korea and China.

“They will exchange views and opinions with related parties from TEPCO, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan,” the JAIF noted.

The IAEA is expected to draft an interim report by the end of the year.