Release of 7,800t... 4th Discharge Scheduled for Early Next Year
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has completed the third phase of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant contaminated water discharge into the ocean. Amid ongoing tensions with China over the discharge, only the fourth discharge planned for this year remains.
On the 20th, TEPCO announced that the third ocean discharge was completed at 12:01 PM. Since the 2nd, TEPCO has diluted approximately 460 tons of contaminated water daily with a large volume of seawater, releasing a total of 7,800 tons into the sea. The discharge operation was finalized by flushing the remaining water in the transfer pipes with filtered water.
The Japanese government and TEPCO stated that after the contaminated water discharge, regular sampling of seawater and fish around the nuclear plant showed tritium concentrations well below the discharge standards, with no abnormalities detected. Kyodo News reported, "As with the first and second discharges, no impact from the contaminated water discharge has been confirmed on the surrounding seawater and fish."
Previously, TEPCO discharged 7,788 tons during the first phase from August 24 to September 11, and 7,810 tons during the second phase from October 5 to 23 into the sea in front of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
TEPCO plans to release a total of 31,200 tons, about 2% of this year's total storage volume, in four phases, with the fourth discharge scheduled for early next year.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
