All eyes are on the Republic of Korea (ROK) as a delegation from the country undertakes a two-day inspection tour of Japan's disaster-hit Fukushima power plant to assess the safety of Japan's planned release of the contentious nuclear wastewater in the sea.

The team of government experts include senior officials of the ROK's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and marine environment experts. After arriving in Japan on Sunday, they began the inspection on Tuesday. They will hold technical discussions with the Japanese authorities on Thursday and return home the following day.

"We will check on the safety of the process based on scientific foundation and standards," Nuclear Safety and Security Commission chief Yoo Guk-hee, also head of the inspection team, told reporters before departure.

On Monday, the two sides confirmed inspection items for each day, and the ROK inspection team presented a list of facilities and equipment requiring examination. The list includes the plant's multi-nuclide removal system, known as ALPS, and the K4 storage tanks, which measure the concentration of radioactive substances in the contaminated water before discharge. The team said it also requested the raw data of the water analysis before and after the ALPS treatment.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press briefing that Japan will seek to deepen understanding about the safety of the water release through this week's inspection.

Opposition to Japan's plan

Japan's discharge plan has long been a source of anxiety and concern for Japan's neighbors and the Pacific island countries. But the Japanese government is pressing ahead with the plan of releasing radioactive wastewater in spring or summer. 

People of the fishing industry from the ROK's Jeju Island staged a rally at a port on Monday to demand that Japan cancel the plan. Tens of thousands of ROK residents gathered in central Seoul on May 20 to voice their opposition to Japan's discharge plan.

Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, said that the ROK government should not agree with Japan, which would "throw away" the contaminated water regardless of whether the neighboring countries suffer the damage or the wastewater contaminates oceans around the world.

On May 19, a meeting was held in Seoul by the ROK's ruling People Power Party to let experts explain that contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan is scientifically safe for the human body. 

Wade Allison, professor emeritus at Oxford University, said in the meeting that it is safe to drink the water purified by the ALPS.

Lee rebutted this argument by saying that Japan should reuse the water from the Fukushima power plant as drinking water itself if the claims are true.

The inspection would end up justifying Japan's plan to discharge the contaminated water, according to a statement of the Democratic Party.

Credibility of inspection

While the inspection tour is seen by some as the diplomatic fruit of efforts to mend bilateral ties soured by disputes over history and territory, criticism over details of the inspection emerged in the ROK as many discrepancies, such as the specific itinerary and the items of inspection, existed between the two neighbors, according to the ROK media. 

Kang Eun-mi of the minor progressive Justice Party said the team will not be allowed to collect a drop of the contaminated water as a sample, and ROK reporters were not allowed to accompany the team.

The lawmaker also said it will be a "secret" briefing session provided by the Japanese side as private experts were excluded from the team, of which the list was undisclosed. Moreover, the team spent only two days at the plant, which is also seen as a dent on the credibility of the team's conclusions.

(Cover: Over 150 people from the fishing industry hold a rally against the release of contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea at a port in Jeju, ROK, May 22, 2023. /CFP)