BERLIN: Treated water released from Japan’s meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean has met safety standards so far, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said Monday.

Speaking at the beginning of a meeting of the nuclear watchdog’s board of governors in Vienna, Grossi explained the agency’s efforts to monitor Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s discharge of the treated water, which contains small amounts of the radioactive substance tritium.

The content of the discussions in the five-day meeting are set to stay private.

The IAEA independently verifies the safety of the water discharge at its on-site base in the northeastern Japan power plant. IAEA experts are there to ensure that international safety standards continue to be applied, Grossi said.

The agency said Friday that seawater samples it collected within a 3-kilometer radius of the discharge site show “consistency with the values reported by” TEPCO and the Japanese Environment Ministry.

China, which opposes the water discharge, has made arguments that run counter to the IAEA’s findings. This has led to worries in the international community that the authority of the nuclear watchdog is being undermined.

Meanwhile, there is growing understanding of Japan’s move.

JIJI Press