IAEA chief visits Seoul, warns about North’s nuke test site

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks with a member of the Korean press at Incheon Airport on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Worrying activities have been detected at North Korea’s nuclear testing site, according to Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
 
Speaking with a group of reporters on arrival at Incheon Airport Wednesday evening, Grossi said that movements around the test site have been very active lately and North Korea could conduct a nuclear test soon. 
 
The test site, located in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, is where North Korea has conducted all six of its nuclear tests from 2006 to 2017.  
 
Satellite images of the site have shown for months that North Korea may be preparing for another nuclear test.
 
North Korea has fired over 60 ballistic missiles this year, all in violation of UN security council resolutions. Washington, Seoul and the European Union have recently levied additional sanctions on individuals and entities tied to the funding of the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
 
Grossi was to meet with Foreign Minister Park Jin on Thursday evening and with the minister of science and ICT on Friday.
 
His visit was the first in five years for a head of the IAEA.  
 
The last was in September 2017 when director general Yukiya Amano came following North Korea’s sixth nuclear test.
 
In addition to North Korean nuclear activities, Grossi will be discussing with Korean officials the planned release of wastewater from the stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.  
 
A massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, destroying the Fukushima Daiichi plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). Japan has struggled with what to do with radioactive water stored in tanks at the plant from even before the accident.
 
In April 2021, Tokyo announced a controversial decision to gradually release wastewater into the Pacific Ocean in 2023, which was protested by the Japanese fishing industry, international environmental groups and neighbors Korea and China.  
 
More than 1.3 million tons of contaminated water is stored in tanks at the plant.  
 
The Japanese government and Tepco aim to begin releasing the treated water next spring.
 
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority deemed it safe to release the water, though Tepco acknowledged it will still contain traces of tritium even after treatment. Tritium can cause mutations, tumors and cell death, but Tepco said experts found it is only harmful to humans in large doses and that the water will be diluted and released over decades to reduce tritium levels.
 
The IAEA will be monitoring the planned discharge in coordination with international experts and officials including from Korea. Kim Hong-suk, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, will be part of the international monitoring group.  
 

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]