Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant has commenced the second phase of releasing treated radioactive wastewater into the sea, following a successful first round of discharges. Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings (TEPCO), the operator of the plant, confirmed that a pump was activated to dilute the treated water with large amounts of seawater, gradually allowing the mixture to flow into the ocean through an underground tunnel.
The initial release, which took place from August 24 to September 11, saw TEPCO discharge 7,800 tons of treated water from 10 tanks. Approximately 1.34 million tons of radioactive wastewater is currently stored in around 1,000 tanks at the plant. This water has accumulated since the plant was severely damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
For this second discharge, TEPCO plans to release another 7,800 metric tons of treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean over a span of 17 days. Both TEPCO and the government assure that the wastewater is extensively treated to reduce radioactive materials to safe levels and, prior to discharge, it is further diluted with seawater to make it significantly safer than international standards require.
The decision to release the water into the sea is deemed unavoidable, as the tanks are projected to reach their maximum capacity early next year. Furthermore, to facilitate the decommissioning process, which is estimated to take several decades, space at the plant will be required.
While TEPCO and the government maintain this course of action, opposition has arisen from fishing groups and neighboring countries, notably South Korea. Protest rallies have been staged by hundreds of people in South Korea and China has imposed a ban on all imports of Japanese seafood, resulting in significant hardships for Japanese seafood exporters.
To counteract the impact of China’s ban, the Japanese government has established a relief fund aimed at finding new markets for Japanese seafood and mitigating its effects.
