Gov′t calls for refraining from referring to Fukushima water as ′nuclear waste water′

▲ Vice Oceans Minister Song Sang-keun (C) talks during a press briefing at the government complex in Seoul on June 19, 2023, on Japan's planned release of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. (Yonhap)

govt-Fukushima plant

Gov't calls for refraining from referring to Fukushima water as 'nuclear waste water'

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The government called Monday for refraining from referring to radioactive water set to be released from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant as "nuclear waste water," saying the term causes "excessive and unnecessary" concerns among people.

Vice Oceans Minister Song Sang-keun made the appeal during a daily government briefing on the planned release, days after Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, used the term during a rally opposing the planned release.

"The use of this term causes excessive and unnecessary concerns and anxieties among our people," Song said during the briefing. "Irrevocable damage to our fishermen and the fisheries industry could occur. Please refrain from using an excessive term like this."

Song also refuted a media report citing research by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres of Germany that the contaminated water from the plant would reach the shores of the southern island of Jeju in just seven months.

As ocean currents disperse the contaminated water, radioactive materials would be nearly undetectable on Jeju's shores, he said, adding that the concentration level there would be around one-trillionth that of the Fukushima shore level.

The concentration levels of cesium and tritium, a hydrogen radioisotope, have been the most heavily debated issues. The plant's custom purification system, known as ALPS, is capable of removing all radioactive materials from the wastewater, except for tritium.

Last month, a team of South Korean experts conducted an inspection of the plant to check if the radioactive water could be treated to be safe enough. The inspection was in line with a summit agreement between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

After the inspection, the team said meaningful progress was achieved, but additional analysis is needed for a more accurate conclusion. The team said it will soon announce the final analysis.

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