China says 'closely monitoring' release of radioactive waste from S.Korean nuclear plant

China on Tuesday said it was "closely monitoring" the release of radioactive waste from a nuclear reactor in South Korea.

At least 29 tons of liquid radioactive waste from a storage tank at the Wolseong No. 2 nuclear power plant, located in the southeastern North Gyeongsang province, were released into the ocean without prior analysis.

Beijing is "aware of the situation" and will "closely monitor" the next developments of the abnormal discharge of radioactive waste from the nuclear reactor, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.

Quick steps were taken to stop the leakage immediately after discovering that the outlet valve was already open while preparing to release the liquid waste into the ocean.

According to South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. reported on Sunday that waste from the liquid radioactive material storage tank of Wolseong Unit 2, which was in normal operation, was discharged into the ocean "without going through the sample analysis stage."

However, it said the results of samples after the flow showed "normal discharge levels."

South Korean authorities are investigating exactly how much nuclear waste was released while also probing into the cause and any potential damage of the incident.