Tokyo: Japan has rebutted Chinese criticism of its discharge of treated water from the meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.

The criticism, posted by the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on its website, includes content that is not based on facts or scientific grounds and that runs counter to the view of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“To deny the authority and power of the IAEA is to deny even China’s own safety standards, which are based on the IAEA’s safety standards,” the ministry also said.

The embassy’s website post said on Monday that the water release from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant into the Pacific Ocean may cause unexpected damage to the marine environment and human bodies.

The post also claimed that it is impossible to judge the safety of the water only from monitoring data provided by Japan and that the monitoring lacks transparency without the participation of a third country.

The ministry said that the impact of the water discharge on humans and the environment is negligible and that the IAEA has clearly stated that in its comprehensive report released in July.

In addition, the monitoring of the water by the Japanese government and TEPCO conforms to IAEA standards and involves several third-country analytical and research institutions selected by the IAEA, the ministry added.

TEPCO began to release the treated water, which still contains tritium, into the sea Aug. 24. TEPCO says it dilutes the water to lower concentrations of the radioactive substance far below safety limits before discharging it into the ocean.

JIJI Press