Press Releases
Video Conference Briefing Session to the Governmentof the Republic of Korea on the Current Status of Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) Treated Water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
On 2nd June, 2022, a video conference briefing session to the Government of Republic of Korea (ROK) was organized on the current status of ALPS treated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). Director-General KAIFU Atsushi from Disarmament of Non-Proliferation and Science Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Director-General YUMOTO Keiichi for Nuclear Accident Disaster Response of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and officials from Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), and TEPCO, on the Japanese side; and Director-General Lee Tong-q from Climate Change, Energy, Environmental and Scientific Affairs Bureau of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and officials from Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, on the ROK side, attended the session.
- During the briefing, MOFA, METI, and NRA explained the content of the revised application for approval to amend the Implementation Plan for FDNPS submitted by TEPCO in April as well as the overview of the NRA’s draft review document on the revised application in May. It was followed by a Q&A session among the participants.
- The Japanese side explained that as observed by the IAEA in its review report of safety related aspects of handling ALPS treated water at TEPCO’s FDNPS, “Japan has made significant progress in its preparations”, and that the further actions would be taken based on the observations made in the IAEA review report. Furthermore, it explained that NRA confirmed that the content of the TEPCO’s revised application satisfied the regulratory requirements, and that TEPCO would continue to go through domestic processes such as a pre-service inspection by NRA, which confirms that the facilities installed by TEPCO have been properly installed in accordance with the implementation plan. The Japanese side also stated that they would continue to communicate with the ROK based on scientific evidence.
- All the related Ministries and Agencies of the Government of Japan will continue to work together to explain thoroughly the safety of ALPS treated water and the situation of the FDNPS to the international community in a transparent manner.
[NOTE] ALPS treated water
ALPS treated water is water which is processed by devices such as ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) to ensure that the radioactive materials other than tritium surely meets the regulatory standards for safety. In addition, it is planned that ALPS treated water will then be sufficiently diluted before the discharges.