The director general of the United Nations (UN) nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Friday (7) that he heard that one or two experts behind the report that gave the green light to the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant may have expressed concerns.
“There were some thoughts that one or two experts would have been against (the report),” Grossi said in his first interview since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued its report attesting to the safety of a plan that has faced reviews at home and abroad.
Asked to clarify whether there were any concerns among the experts behind the report, which included participants from 11 countries including China, the fiercest critic of Japan’s plan, Grossi added: “I’ve heard that said… but then again, the that we publish is scientifically impeccable”.
Grossi said none of the experts had raised their concerns directly with him, and he did not elaborate on how he learned of the concern.
Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times said on Thursday that Liu Senlin, a Chinese expert on the IAEA’s technical working group, was disappointed with the “hurried” report and said the experts’ contribution was limited and used only as a reference.
Liu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday that the IAEA report “did not fully reflect the views of all experts involved in the assessment” and that its conclusions were “limited and one-sided”.
The task force established by the IAEA in 2021 to review the safety of Japan’s plan to release the equivalent of about 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water from the plant destroyed by a tsunami more than a decade ago, also includes members from Argentina, Australia, Canada , France, Marshall Islands, South Korea, Russia, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
At a later press conference, Grossi said the report was not drafted by consensus and that the group of scientific experts and consultants consulted “may or may not have individual opinions.”
Asked if the experts were satisfied with the content of the report, Grossi said: “Without a doubt, yes. If there is anyone who is not, he should say so.”
(Additional reporting by Martin Pollard in Beijing; Editing by Martin Pollard)
Source: CNN Brasil
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