The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today led a team of international experts in conducting seawater sampling and fishery product selection near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS).
This marks the fifth mission carried out under the IAEA’s additional measures, which aim to enhance transparency and broaden international participation.?These measures enable hands-on independent measurements of the concentration level of the water by third parties to ensure that the discharge of treated water – processed through the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) and initiated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) in August 2023 – remains consistent with international safety standards.
International experts from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and Switzerland, alongside IAEA staff, conducted hands-on sampling of the seawater and marine samples.
The IAEA began implementing these additional measures in October of last year. In February, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi?presided over the additional measures?to collect seawater samples in the vicinity of FDNPS, together with international experts.
This latest mission follows the June operation, during which?samples of ALPS treated water were collected ahead of the discharge of the 14th batch.
Samples collected during today’s mission will be analysed by participating laboratories including: the China Institute for Radiation Protection, the Korea Institute for Nuclear Safety, the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory in New Zealand, Lomonosov Moscow State University in the Russian Federation, the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland, the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco and designated laboratories in Japan.
All international laboratories involved are members of the IAEA's Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity (ALMERA) network, selected for their demonstrated expertise and analytical excellence.