Fukushima: Japan gets UN nuclear watchdog approval for water release | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Fukushima: Japan gets UN nuclear watchdog approval for water release

World+Biz

Reuters
04 July, 2023, 09:20 am
Last modified: 04 July, 2023, 06:13 pm

Related News

  • Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours
  • Clamping down: Once Japan, now China
  • Bangladesh-Japan ties strengthened by CA's visit: Press secretary
  • Japan PM Ishiba mulls Trump trade meeting before G7: Yomiuri newspaper
  • CA Yunus' visit elevates Dhaka-Tokyo ties: Shafiqul Alam

Fukushima: Japan gets UN nuclear watchdog approval for water release

Reuters
04 July, 2023, 09:20 am
Last modified: 04 July, 2023, 06:13 pm
Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen from a beach in Namie, about 7 km away from the power plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo
Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen from a beach in Namie, about 7 km away from the power plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo

Japan won approval from the UN's nuclear watchdog on Tuesday for its plan to release treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima plant into the ocean, despite fierce resistance from Beijing and some local residents.

After a two-year review, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Japan's plans were consistent with global safety standards and that they would have a "negligible radiological impact to people and the environment".

"This is a very special night," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before handing him a thick blue folder containing the final report.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Grossi later told reporters at the Japan National Press Club, where he was met by a small group of protesters, that he would seek to allay lingering concerns and would station IAEA staff at the Fukushima plant to monitor the release.

Explainer: How Japan plans to release Fukushima water into the ocean

 

"We have to recognise that such a thing has not happened before," he said, adding that Japan would have the final say on the release, which is due to span 30 to 40 years.

Japan's government maintains the process is safe as it has treated the water – enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools – used to cool the fuel rods of the Fukushima plant after it was damaged by the earthquake and resulting tsunami.

Japan has not specified a date to start the water release pending official approval from the national nuclear regulatory body for Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) 9501.T, whose final word on the plan unveiled in 2021 could come as early as this week.

Japanese fishing unions have long opposed the plan, saying it would undo work to repair reputations after several countries banned some Japanese food products after the 2011 disaster.

A petition from the regions around the plant has garnered more than 250,000 signatures since the proposal was first made.

Some neighbouring countries have also complained over the years about the threat to the marine environment and public health, with Beijing emerging as the biggest critic.

"Japan will continue to provide explanations to the Japanese people and to the international community in a sincere manner based on scientific evidence and with high level of transparency," Kishida said as he met with Grossi.

Through its embassy in Japan, Beijing said the IAEA report cannot be a "pass" for the water release and called for the plan's suspension.

Treated water

Japan says the water has been filtered to remove most radioactive elements except for tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that is difficult to separate from water. The treated water will be diluted to well below internationally approved levels of tritium before being released into the Pacific.

In a presentation given to foreign journalists in China last month, Japanese officials said tritium levels in the treated water are lower than those found in waste water regularly released by nuclear plants around the world, including in China.

The officials said they had made multiple and repeated attempts to explain the science behind Tokyo's stance to Beijing, but their offers had been ignored.

China on Tuesday said Japan's comparison of the tritium levels in the treated water and waste water was "completely confusing concepts and misleading public opinion".

"If the Japanese side is bent on going its own way, it must bear all the consequences," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it "regrets" IAEA's "hasty release" of its report.

Grossi will visit the Fukushima plant on Wednesday. After his Japan trip, he will head to South Korea, where consumers have been snapping up sea salt and other items ahead of the water release.

He is also expected to visit New Zealand and the Cook Islands in a bid to ease concerns over the plan, according to media reports.

Japan / Fukushima

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted as seen from Tel Aviv. REUTERS/Jamal Awad
    Iran fires missiles at Israel in response to attacks; Trump says it's not too late for nuclear deal
  • Logo of National Citizen Party (NCP)
    People won't accept election date before July Charter is implemented: NCP on Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
    Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
    UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts

Related News

  • Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours
  • Clamping down: Once Japan, now China
  • Bangladesh-Japan ties strengthened by CA's visit: Press secretary
  • Japan PM Ishiba mulls Trump trade meeting before G7: Yomiuri newspaper
  • CA Yunus' visit elevates Dhaka-Tokyo ties: Shafiqul Alam

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

9h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features

More Videos from TBS

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

2h | TBS Today
Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

4h | TBS World
Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

6h | TBS World
IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

8h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net