TOKYO, Nov 3 (NNN-NHK) – Japan, yesterday, started the third round of release of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Despite concerns and opposition among local fishermen in the Fukushima Prefecture, as well as, other countries, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant’s operator, started discharging the radioactive wastewater at around 10:20 a.m. local time.
As in the first and second rounds, conducted between Aug and Oct, TEPCO said, it will dilute some 7,800 tonnes of the radioactive wastewater, which still contains tritium, a radioactive substance, with a large amount of seawater before releasing it.
TEPCO said, it plans to pump about 460 tonnes of water per day, about one km off the coast, via an underwater tunnel through Nov 20.
The Chinese Embassy in Japan expressed firm opposition to the latest discharge. Japan’s continuous dumping of nuclear-contaminated water poses serious risks to the global marine environment, a spokesperson for the embassy said.
The spokesperson called on Japan to fully respond to the concerns of the international community, subject itself to international oversight, and handle the nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, open, transparent and safe manner.
Yesterday’s discharge was the third round of four, to be conducted by the end of next March, to discharge a total of about 31,200 tonnes of the water stored in tanks at the nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, north-eastern Japan.– NNN-NHK
