Second release of Fukushima wastewater next week
Some 1.34 million tons of treated wastewater will be gradually discharged to the ocean.
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Some 1.34 million tons of treated wastewater will be gradually discharged to the ocean.
Japan is releasing next week the second batch of treated wastewater from a crippled nuclear power plant.
Fukushima nuclear power plant operator TEPCO said Thursday the second release to the Pacific Ocean will start on 5 October.
"As was the case for the first discharge, we will continue to monitor the tritium levels. We will continue to inform the public in ways that are easy to understand based on scientific evidence," TEPCO official Akira Ono told reporters Thursday.
TEPCO says that the water has been filtered of all radioactive elements except tritium, which is within safe levels. That view is backed by the United Nations atomic agency.
Some 1.34 million tons of wastewater accumulated when the plant was disabled by a tsunami in 2011. Water was used to cool the reactor of the plant.
The first release of wastewater from 24 August to 11 September, measuring 7,800 tons, angered China.
Beijing banned all Japanese seafood imports despite assurance by Tokyo that the discharge poses no risk to marine food. China has accused Japan of using the ocean like a "sewer."
Ironically, Chinese boats are reportedly continuing to catch fish off Japan in the same areas that Japanese vessels operate.
Rahm Emanuel, the United States ambassador to Japan, last week posted photos of what he said were Chinese fishing boats off Japan on 15 September.
Russia, whose relations with Japan are also frosty, is reportedly considering following suit on a seafood ban.
The Fukushima wastewater releases, which are expected to take decades to complete, aim to make space to eventually begin removing the highly dangerous radioactive fuel and rubble from the wrecked reactors.
WITH AFP
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