Seoul, (Samajweekly) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will arrive in South Korea on Friday to explain the analysis of the UN watchdog’s safety review of Japan’s planned release of water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, an official said on Tuesday.
Grossi will arrive in the country after completing an ongoing four-day trip to Japan aimed at delivering the results of the IAEA’s final report, which is widely expected to approve the discharge of contaminated water into the ocean, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Kyodo News reported that the director will release the results on Friday.
Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said the South Korean government is in the final stage of its own scientific analysis of the discharge plan based on the results of its inspection and the participation on the IAEA’s monitoring team.
South Korea’s 21-member team completed its six-day trip to Japan in late May, which included the on-site inspection.
Also, a South Korean expert has participated in the IAEA’s monitoring team, which had previously released five interim evaluations.
Japan has not yet specified a date for the start of the water release, which is expected to take place over the next few decades, pending the IAEA’s final review and approval from its nuclear regulatory body, despite opposition from neighboring countries.
In response to heightened public concern, Seoul launched a daily press briefing last month to keep the public updated on the planned release of contaminated water from the plant, which was severely damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
