6 months ago
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Over seven weeks have passed without an acknowledgement or reply to a letter the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities co-signed which was sent to the UN International Atomic Energy Authority calling for transparency over claims that the organisation collaborated with the Japanese Government to ‘manage the message’ over the ocean dumping of 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site.
On 28 June, an anonymous whistleblower posted a document, seemingly issued by the Department of Nuclear Safety at the IAEA, to the website/blogsite dunrenard[1]. If genuine, the document, titled ‘IAEA REVISION PROPOSAL FOR THE FINAL REPORT OF HANDLING ALPS TREATED WATER AT TEPCO’S FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER STATION’, appears to indicate that the international agency has actively sought to downplay the dangers associated with discharging millions of barrels of water which remain contaminated with highly toxic tritium.
The NFLA’s first covered this story and our disquiet at the revelations in a media release dated 3 July:
https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/cover-up-did-atom-bosses-collude-to-manage-message-of-japanese-plan-to-poison-pacific/
One of the recipients of the leaked document was Mr Tim Deere-Jones, a graduate in Marine Studies from Cardiff University. Tim, an independent marine pollution researcher and consultant since 1983, is highly regarded by the many international organisations who have engaged him in their campaigns against the damage caused to our oceans and inland waterways by radioactive and other contaminants.
Tim was incensed that the Japanese Government was quick to condemn the claim that Japan had pressurised the IAEA to remove ‘negative information’ about the environmental impact that would result from the radioactive waste discharges from the final report, but also noted that on the claims themselves the IAEA made no comment.
Keen to seek clarification and action on the veracity of the whistleblower’s claims, Tim went right to the top of the IAEA and penned a letter to the head of the management office for the Deputy Director General. Here he explains why:
“To date there has been no detectable independent action to investigate and test the veracity of the whistleblower’s claims against the claim of non-interference made by the Government of Japan.
“I fear that if this is scenario is allowed to continue the whistleblower’s action and disclosure will be historically characterised by the Government of Japan statement, sink into obscurity and be forgotten and the whistleblower’s heroic action will have been wasted, while he/she is still under threat of investigation, identification, and penalty.
“My disclosure request to the IAEA is intended to elicit a direct response from the agency to the claims made by the whistleblower as to date my online media searches have yet to reveal any related statement made by the organisation.
“This creates the impression that the Government of Japan has been acting as the IAEAs mouthpiece in respect of the whistleblower disclosure and that the IAEA would prefer NOT to be associated in anyway with the issue, to the extent that it has not made any public statement”.
Tim’s request for disclosure, submitted by registered post to the IAEA’s Vienna office and by email to the official account on 1 September, was backed by five British anti-nuclear groups and individuals from Europe and the Pacific Ocean, representing commercial fishers, other marine stakeholders, and coastal zone and Pacific Island communities.
Although the registered letter was tracked as received at the Vienna office on 9 September, Tim has yet to receive any response from the agency, and on 16 October sent a reminder:
“I have concluded that the absence of a receipt or response is a clear indication of the IAEA’s resistance to any discussion of the issues raised.
“My reading critique of the IAEAs final report to TEPCO re the issue of the ALPs treated water release certainly supports the drift of the whistleblower statement”.
Amongst the co-signatories to the letter, which is reproduced at the end of this press release, were the NFLAs, which have objected in letters to Japanese Ministers, senior officials at TEPCO (the nuclear operator), and the United Nations to the discharge of radioactive water from Fukushima, and signed a partnership agreement with its counterparts, Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan, to collaborate in opposing the plan.
Though disappointed at the continued wall of silence, Chair Councillor Lawrence O’Neill is unsurprised that the IAEA remains tight-lipped:
“Sadly, the duties of disclosure required of public bodies in the UK through the Freedom of Information Act do not apply to an international agency based in Vienna and the IAEA’s statutes appear to contain no provisions for transparency or external accountability, despite the agency being funded by the member states, and so the taxpayers, of the United Nations.
“Although the organization claims to want to become more open, the lack of a response, or even an acknowledgement, to our legitimate request for information belies the fact that, on controversial issues, a culture of secrecy still prevails.”
Tim believes that collaboration between the IAEA and the Japanese Government over the Fukushima radioactive water releases was imperative as the continuation of sea dumping regardless of the adverse impact to the marine environment represents a ‘make or break issue’ for the nuclear industry. He has produced a short paper explaining his reasoning, which also appears at the end of this media release.
Ends://..
For further information about this media release please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk or telephone 07583097793
1. https://dunrenard.wordpress.com/2023/06/28/will-this-whistleblower-be-heard-by-anyone/
Notes to Editors:
The reminder sent to Ms Margaret Doane, Head, Department of Management Office of the Deputy Director General, IAEA, 16 October 2023
FAO: Ms. Margaret Doane,
Head, Department of Management
Office of the Deputy Director General
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna International Centre
PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria
Dear Ms Margaret Doane
On 01/09/2023 I despatched a Disclosure Request to you at the above address (copy appended below.)
The Disclosure Request was sent by registered mail and I have been notified that the Disclosure Request was delivered to the IAEA HQ (Vienna, Austria) on 09/09/2023.
On that day (09/09/2023) I also forwarded the Disclosure Request to the IAEA, FAO Director General’s Office, by email, using the IAEA official contact form.
It is now over 5 weeks since our Disclosure request was delivered by both letter hard copy and email to the IAEA HQ and I have still not received any acknowledgement of the IAEAs receipt, let alone an actual response to our Requests for Disclosure.
I would be most grateful if you would kindly confirm your personal receipt of our Disclosure Request AND this follow up note. I would be most grateful if you would kindly respond in full detail to each individual point in our Disclosure Request and/or inform me when you will do so.
On behalf of the listed supporters of our original Disclosure Request.
I am yours sincerely
Tim Deere-Jones
The original letter sent to Ms. Margaret Doane on 1 September
Copied to 
https://www.iaea.org/contact/official-mail)
FAO:
Ms. Margaret Doane,
Head, Department of Management Office of the Deputy Director General
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna International Centre
PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria
