Japan completes 1st round of nuclear wastewater discharge from Fukushima plant

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Monday said that the first round of the release into the sea of treated wastewater has been completed.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant’s operator, said in a statement that in the first round, about 460 tons of treated water was released into the sea per day, adding that it released a total of 7,800 tons of water as planned – the equivalent of 10 full tanks in the plant compound.

The release of the treated wastewater began on Aug. 25, sparking reactions from China and opposition parties in South Korea.

Beijing has imposed a blanket ban on seafood from Japan.

TEPCO said that for the second round, it will inspect the discharge facilities for three weeks, and will start the process again.

Until next March, the operator’s utility plans to carry out four rounds of water discharge to release a total of 31,200 tons of water, the equivalent of about 40 full tanks.

In the Fukushima nuclear plants, 1.3 million tons of treated water is stored in more than a thousand tanks.