The International Atomic Energy Agency task force "observed a robust commitment to align the regulatory plans related to the treated water discharge with IAEA safety standards" during the five-day visit to Japan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s experts collected samples for testing and gathered information about Japan’s plan to discharge treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the sea.

The effects on the public and the environment of the discharge of treated water at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea will be minimal, Tokyo Electric Power Company said today. The company has released the results of a radiological impact assessment using methodology developed in accordance with internationally recognised methods.

A team of International Atomic Energy Agency officials are in Japan to officially launch a multi-year review of the planned release of treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It is the IAEA's first mission as part of its review and monitoring assistance to support Japan before, during and after the discharge of treated water, which is expected to start in 2023.

Conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site have improved since a review in 2018, the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded following its fifth review of Japan's plans and activities to decommission the plant. The IAEA team of experts reviewed the current situation at the site and future plans in areas such as the removal of used fuel and the retrieval of fuel debris, radioactive waste, water and site management.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced plans for the construction of an undersea tunnel, about 1 kilometre in length, for the discharge of treated water currently stored at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The tunnel will release the tritiated water into an area of the ocean away from the plant but where no fishing rights are in place.

Details have been agreed of support that the International Atomic Energy Agency will give to Japan during the release of tritiated water from the Fukushima Daiichi site. IAEA's first official visit will be in September, ahead of the release of the water, which will be diluted to drinking-water quality.

Japanese laboratories monitoring radionuclides in seawater, marine sediment and fish near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continue to produce reliable data, according to a new International Atomic Energy Agency report. Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to rear fish in treated radioactive water from the plant to demonstrate its safety. A University of Georgia study has shown that radioactive contamination in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone can be measured through its resident snakes.

The scope of technical assistance the International Atomic Energy Agency will provide in monitoring and reviewing the planned discharge of treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site has been agreed. The Terms of Reference defining the objective of the IAEA's assistance, how it will be implemented and its organisational arrangements were signed yesterday by the agency and the Japanese government.

Many challenges have to be faced in maintaining safety over the long term in a damaged nuclear power plant following a severe accident, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency notes in a new status report. The report reviews knowledge and experience gained through long-term management of the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi accidents, by identifying and ranking main issues and knowledge gaps. It also reviews the existing regulations and guidance, practices, technical bases and issues regarding long-term management of a severely damaged nuclear site.

The Japanese government today announced its formal decision that the treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi site will be discharged into the sea. Tokyo Electric Power Company is expected to start discharging the mildly-radioactive water in 2023 in line with international standards and regulations.

The slow-down in the development of nuclear energy globally, as a result of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, poses dire consequences for our fight against climate change, global human health and the resilience of global electricity systems, writes Sama Bilbao y León, director general of World Nuclear Association.