TOKYO (NEWSnet/AP) — The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency will visit Japan next week to see preparations for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, officials said Friday.

Japan's government hopes the visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi will add credibility to the discharge plan. It has been strongly opposed by fishing groups and by neighboring South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations over safety concerns.

Grossi is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visit the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, has completed construction of the equipment needed, and Japanese regulators were finishing their inspections on Friday. If everything goes well, TEPCO is expected to receive a permit in about a week, though the starting date is still undecided, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Government and utility officials say the wastewater, stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant, must be removed to prevent accidental leaks and to make room for the plant’s decommissioning. They say the treated but still slightly radioactive water will be diluted to levels safer than international standards and will be released gradually into the ocean, making it harmless to people and marine life.

Environmental activists in Seoul, South Korea, protested on Friday outside the Japanese Embassy against the plan.


Copyright 2023 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.