Seoul to Send Experts to Fukushima as TEPCO Suspends Wastewater Release

Written: 2024-03-15 

Photo : YONHAP News

Anchor: A five-point-eight-magnitude earthquake occurred in waters near Japan's eastern Fukushima Prefecture, prompting the country's nuclear plant operator to cut off an ongoing release of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant. Both the operator and the South Korean government have said there has not been any apparent damage regarding the discharge.
Emma Sparkes reports.

Report: An earthquake with a magnitude of five-point-eight struck waters off Japan's eastern Fukushima Prefecture at around 12:14 a.m. Friday.

While no post-quake tsunami or damage has been reported, strong tremors were detected in Fukushima and other eastern regions.

Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO), the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, suspended an ongoing release of wastewater from the plant into the ocean.

This was in accordance with a guideline that the water discharge must be halted upon a tremor of magnitude five or higher, and the first time it was stopped due to an earthquake since it began the first round of releases last August.

TEPCO said it has not found any problems at the facility concerning the water release, and that it will decide on resuming the fourth discharge of wastewater that has been underway since February 28, after conducting inspections.

The South Korean government, for its part, confirmed the development, with first vice minister for government policy and coordination Park Gu-yeon saying Tokyo notified Seoul soon after the suspension.

Park said according to TEPCO, no meaningful change has been detected by the plant's monitoring equipment and there has been no radiation leakage.

The vice minister said Seoul is monitoring the situation and plans to dispatch experts to Fukushima to conduct a thorough assessment of its own

Emma Sparkes, KBS World Radio News.