TEPCO to Start 2nd Release of Treated Water from Fukushima N-Plant from Thursday

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:47 JST, October 2, 2023

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. plans to begin its second release of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Thursday.

The company intends to release about 30,000 tons of treated water, or about 2% of the water stored at the nuclear power plant, over four release periods within the fiscal year.

The treated water will be mixed with seawater to dilute the concentration of radioactive tritium to less than 1,500 becquerels per liter, which is one-fortieth of Japan’s regulatory standard of 60,000 becquerels per liter.

To monitor the environmental impact of the release, TEPCO has tested tritium concentrations in seawater every day, while the Fisheries Agency has tested seawater and fish samples nearly every day. A concentration of 10 becquerels per liter was detected in a seawater sample on one occasion but has been below the detectable limit in both seawater and fish samples every other time.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has independently tested seawater and confirmed similar results.

The Fisheries Agency will reduce the testing frequency from the second release, while TEPCO will continue taking daily samples.