The company managing the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has launched a new round of treated water discharge into the sea this Monday, the second so far this year which will involve the release of another 7,800 tons.
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The plant will release this treated water through an underground tunnel one kilometer off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, located in the northeast of the country and which suffered a serious nuclear accident in 2011, over a period of 19 days, according to information gathered by the news agency Jiji Press.
The process of releasing these substances, which are diluted, began in August 2023 and this is the twentieth round. TEPCO has indicated that the goal is to release 62,400 tons in a total of eight rounds throughout this fiscal year, which began in April.
The company maintains that no anomalies have been detected within the framework of these procedures after analyzing the water surrounding the discharge areas and has clarified that the concentrations of tritium in fishery products and surrounding waters are well below national safety limits.
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Although it has ruled out inconveniences throughout the process, several workers had to be temporarily hospitalized in 2024 after being directly exposed to liquids containing radioactive substances.
Before discharging the treated water into the sea, the plant operator dilutes it to reduce tritium levels to approximately one-seventh of the guideline level established by the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water. The situation has led dozens of local residents to periodically take to the streets to protest against the discharge and express their concern about possible leaks.
