Fear over radiation contamination is escalating in South Korea, with neighboring Japan releasing water tainted with radiation from its earthquake-damaged nuclear plant, Xinhua reported.
Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company announced a day ago it started releasing some 11,500 tons of water contaminated with low- level radiation from its crippled nuclear plant in the northeastern province of Fukushima to make space for storage of highly contaminated radioactive water instead.
The water, containing the level of radioactivity believed to be at least 100 times higher than the legal limit, will be dumped into the Pacific Ocean for five days, officials at the power company have said.
Japan's chief government spokesman, Yukio Edano, said Tuesday it was a regrettable yet inevitable decision considering a lack of alternatives.
The move by the neighboring country has sent South Korean officials scrambling to size up the scope of potential environmental damage to the country, with the public already wary of minute levels of radioactive materials recently found in the atmosphere.
Local reports said the South Korean embassy in Tokyo expressed concern over Japan's release of contaminated water, but the foreign ministry in Seoul said it only requested to be briefed on the issue, practically dismissing the reports.
"Expressing concern is not the priority here," spokesman Cho Byung-je said during a briefing on Tuesday. "We believe experts should quickly determine whether there really is a reason to be concerned."
Local media also reported the government has begun looking into international laws and treaties possibly applicable to the issue in case the radioactive water cause any environmental damage here.
The government believes Japan's move might violate the London Convention, which regulates dumping of wastes at sea, and can demand Japan stop the release if the level of radioactivity exceeds the limit, South Korea's MBC television reported.
Still, the foreign ministry spokesman stopped short of confirming the reports. "Whether Japan's move violates international laws or not would be determined only after we comprehensively assess the situation," Cho said.
First vice foreign minister Park Seok-hwan, meanwhile, told parliament that he will ask Japan for a joint field inspection if necessary, reportedly adding Japan did not give a prior notice to South Korea before dumping radioactive water at sea.