UN nuclear agency chief to visit Fukushima plant to see final preparations for release of wastewater

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency will visit Japan next week to meet with officials and see final preparations for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. Japan’s government hopes the visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency will add credibility to the discharge plan. The release has been strongly opposed by local fishing groups and by neighboring South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations over safety concerns. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi is expected to meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visit the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.