Japan to Begin Third Discharge of Fukushima Contaminated Water from Morning of 2nd

Total of 7,800t over 17 days

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will begin the third phase of ocean discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on the morning of the 2nd.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

TEPCO has completed preparations for the discharge and announced that if there are no issues with weather conditions on the morning of the day, the transfer pumps will be operated starting around 10:30 AM to begin the ocean discharge.

In this third discharge, approximately 7,800 tons of contaminated water will be released over about 17 days, similar to the first and second discharges.

Just before the third discharge, TEPCO confirmed on the 31st of last month that the concentration of tritium (triple hydrogen) in the contaminated water, which had passed through the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), mixed with seawater, and stored in large tanks, met the regulatory standards.

Earlier, on the 19th of last month, trace amounts of radioactive nuclides such as carbon-14, cobalt-60, strontium-90, iodine-129, and cesium-137 were detected in samples of the contaminated water to be discharged in the third phase, but the concentrations were below the official limits, thus meeting the discharge criteria.

TEPCO discharged 7,788 tons of contaminated water in the first phase and 7,810 tons in the second phase. On the 21st of last month, during the second discharge period, tritium concentration in seawater sampled near the discharge outlet was confirmed at 22 becquerels (Bq) per liter, which was above the detection limit. This was the highest level recorded after the contaminated water discharge. However, it did not reach the investigation threshold (350 Bq per liter) or the discharge suspension threshold (700 Bq per liter).

TEPCO plans to discharge a total of 31,200 tons of contaminated water over four phases by March next year. As of the 26th of last month, approximately 1.33 million tons of contaminated water are stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.