In a significant move, Pacific Foreign Ministers have agreed last Friday to reinstate the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Panel of Independent Experts on the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS)-treated water discharge from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The decision reflects ongoing concerns about Japan’s plan to release treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, a process that is expected to last for the next 30 years.
Incumbent Forum Chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown emphasised the need for regional capacity-building and robust monitoring systems, stressing that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must be engaged throughout the process.
“The discussions were around building capability and capacity in the Pacific region to be able to undertake monitoring and surveillance of issues around nuclear contamination and discharge. So that’s a work in progress, if you like, within the region, noting that currently, the monitoring and surveillance is being conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global authority on nuclear matters.
“To build that capability within the Pacific means utilising our existing scientific institutions like SPC or others, to be able to have, if you like, regional Pacific capacity, to be able to do similar work, or to be able to like work alongside the IAEA, to a similar sort of monitoring,” PM Brown told journalist in Suva.
The ministers recalled the 52nd PIF Leaders’s Communique and the PALM 10 Declaration, both of which expressed reservations about the ALPS-treated wastewater discharge.
The move to reinstate the Panel of Independent Experts aims to ensure that the region has access to independent scientific analysis. This panel had previously played a key role in facilitating dialogue between the PIF and the IAEA.
The Forum Secretariat has been tasked with exploring long-term approaches for providing ongoing interpretation, guidance, and assessment of scientific data on all nuclear-related discharge and contamination issues.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), a nation with firsthand experience of nuclear testing, has been a vocal advocate for this independent oversight.
The Forum Leaders leaders last year committed to embedding nuclear related discharge as a standing item on the PIF agenda and the issue is expected to be discussed by Leaders at the Forum Meeting in Tonga.
The decision signals a continued commitment from Pacific nations to ensure that their concerns are addressed and that the safety of the region is prioritised in the face of long-term environmental challenges.
