Beijing/Tokyo, Sep 20 (EFE).- The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it has reached a consensus with Japan on the management of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after months of negotiations.
The Ministry said in a statement that the agreement, which includes commitments by Japan to comply with international law, minimizes the “impact on human health and the environment.”
Moreover, an international monitoring mechanism will be established under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with the active participation of China and other interested countries, allowing independent sampling and comparative laboratory analyzes.
Both parties, according to the statement, agreed to maintain a “constructive, science-based dialogue” to protect the environment and public health.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the media after the announcement of the agreement that they had reached a certain level of understanding after working group meetings on the issue.
Kishida said that China had agreed to resume importing Japanese maritime products that met Chinese safety standards and taking into account the implementation of additional monitoring measures.
In August, the Fukushima plant, hit by an earthquake and a tsunami in March 2011, began to discharge large amounts of processed water that are generated and stored in its facilities into the Pacific, a move that is being monitored by the IAEA.
This water is treated by a complex filtering system that removes most of the harmful radioactive elements, minus tritium (a nuclear isotope present in nature), before being stored in tanks to be discharged.
There are currently more than 1,000 tanks on the plant’s premises and its discharge, which has sparked strong protests from neighboring China and the Japanese fishing sector, is expected to continue for at least 30 years. EFE
gbm-ahg-yk/sc