Press Releases
Publication of the Results for the IAEA’s Interlaboratory Comparison on the Determination of Radionuclides in the Marine Environment
On September 28th, 2026, the IAEA published a report on the results of the interlaboratory comparison (ILC) on the determination of radionuclides in the marine environment.
- The IAEA has been conducting the interlaboratory comparison to corroborate the results of Japan's Sea Area monitoring related to the discharges of ALPS treated water into the sea since 2022. The IAEA compared analysis results among laboratories of Japan, the IAEA and third-country laboratories from China, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland selected by the IAEA on the collected samples from September to November 2024 and released its result.
- This ILC is based on the Terms of Reference (TOR) on reviews of safety aspects of handling ALPS treated water signed in July 2021 with the IAEA.
- In the published report, the IAEA concluded that Japan’s sample collection procedures followed the appropriate standards required to obtain representative samples and that the accurate results obtained in this ILC and in previous IAEA ILCs demonstrate a high degree of proficiency on the part of the Japanese laboratories and confidence in the routine monitoring results.
- In the meantime, the ILC, which is part of a project following the recommendations on marine monitoring made in a report by the IAEA in 2013 related to the decommissioning of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO)’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), has been conducted since 2014 and IAEA separately released a report on the results of the ILC organized in 2024.
- The Government of Japan will continue to provide necessary information to the IAEA and will remain committed to making efforts to promote better understanding in the international community regarding the handling of ALPS treated water.
(Reference1) Related links
(Reference2) ALPS treated water
ALPS treated water is water which is processed by devices such as ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) to ensure that the concentration of the radioactive materials other than tritium surely meet the regulatory standards for safety. In addition, ALPS treated water is sufficiently diluted before discharge into the sea so that radioactive materials, including tritium, are far below the regulatory standards for safety.
(Reference3) Interlaboratory Comparison (ILC)
In the ILC, the IAEA, third country analytical laboratories selected by the IAEA, and Japanese laboratories analyze the same samples collected individually, and the IAEA compares their analysis results to confirm that the laboratories’ analytical methods and analysis results for radionuclides are appropriate.