MANILA is not protesting Tokyo’s controversial release of radioactive wastewater from its Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it defers to the opinion of the United Nations’ agency in charge of nuclear cooperation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
On Thursday 1pm local time, Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) started discharging purified and treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the sea.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the tritium, the radioactive material present in the Fukushima waste, has been been significantly diluted with seawater. The tritium concentration after dilution is less than 1/40 of the safety standard (or 1/7 of the WHO drinking water standard).
The Vienna-based organization also sent independent on-site inspectors and confirmed that the tritium concentration that is being discharged Thursday is “far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per liter.”
“The Philippines continues to look at this issue from a science- and fact-based perspective and its impact on the waters in the region. As a coastal and archipelagic State, the Philippines attaches utmost priority to the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
“The Philippines recognizes the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) technical expertise on this matter,” DFA spokesperson Teresa Daza said in a message to reporters.
Image credits: AP/Lee Jin-man