Japan defends radioactive water disposal, vows to fully inform world

TOKYO, April 5 Kyodo -
Japan defended Tuesday its dumping of a massive mount of low-level radioactive water from the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, saying the action does not violate international laws, and pledged to fully inform the international community of Tokyo's steps to tackle the ongoing emergency.
Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said at a press conference that Tokyo had briefed diplomatic corps in Japan on the start of radioactive water disposal hours before the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. began releasing the liquid into the Pacific Ocean on Monday evening.
South Korea has aired concern over the radioactive water release as a neighboring country and said Tuesday that Seoul will ask Tokyo to allow it to conduct on-the-spot radiation tests for seawater contamination if necessary.
Boris Preobrazhensky of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a researcher based in Vladivostok, also criticized the dumping of radioactive water, saying it could adversely affect migratory fish in the western Pacific as well as the Russian fishery industry.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, expressed regret over triggering concerns among neighboring countries.
''We feel very sorry for causing anxiety among our neighbors. We could not help but resort to the measure, but we will provide full explanations from now on,'' he said at a news conference.
The foreign minister stressed that the discharge poses ''no significant health threats'' to human bodies, but said Tokyo will explain to other countries about the background of measures taken at the Fukushima plant, where the nation's worst nuclear crisis is unfolding following the March 11 massive earthquake and tsunami.
He also said the dumping does not violate the 1986 Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, which obligates nations to provide data such as the accident's time, location and radiation releases to affected states when harmful trans-boundary radiation release is feared.
The treaty also encourages voluntary reporting of accidents that do not meet the criteria for mandatory notification. Matsumoto said Tokyo has notified the International Atomic Energy Agency of the radiation leak in accordance with the pact.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano separately said Japan contacted the IAEA rather than individual neighbors because the water has been released from the plant on the Pacific coast. The top government spokesman also said the discharge would ''not cause immediate radioactive contamination in neighboring countries.''
Matsumoto also said Japan has been making its best efforts to minimize the sea contamination in line with the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.