5-10-2023 (TOKYO) Japan has initiated the release of a second batch of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday, October 5, according to the facility’s operator.
The water discharge operation commenced at 10.18 a.m. Japan time (9.18 a.m. Singapore time), as confirmed by a spokesperson from TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company).
This development follows the initial release that took place on August 24, during which Japan commenced the controlled discharge of a portion of the 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater that had accumulated since a catastrophic tsunami struck the facility in 2011.
Similar to the first release, the second phase is anticipated to involve the discharge of approximately 7,800 tonnes of water.
China had taken a decisive step in response to the first release, imposing a blanket ban on all Japanese seafood imports, a measure that continued until September 11, despite Tokyo’s assertions that it presented no health risks. Now, Russia, which shares strained relations with Japan, is reportedly contemplating a similar prohibition on Japanese seafood.
TEPCO has maintained that the wastewater subjected to discharge has undergone thorough filtration to remove all radioactive elements except tritium, which remains within safe levels. This perspective has garnered support from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
China, on the other hand, has vigorously accused Japan of treating the ocean as a “sewer,” a claim that reverberated at the UN last week when Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands, who has cultivated close ties with Beijing, echoed similar sentiments.
The overarching objective of this extensive wastewater release, a process expected to span decades, is to create space for the eventual extraction of highly hazardous radioactive fuel and debris from the plant’s damaged reactors.
