Japan’s TEPCO has announced plans to begin the fourth ocean discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in February next year. This is the latest plan from TEPCO in Japan, and has been reported by Kyodo News and other media outlets.
Fourth Discharge Plan
TEPCO plans to discharge about 7800 tons of contaminated water off the coast of Fukushima Daiichi for 17 days during the fourth discharge, the same as the first through third discharges. TEPCO disposed of about 23,351 tons of contaminated water in the first three discharges, which took place between August 24 and last month 20. And if we release another 7800 tons by next March, we’ll have released a total of 31,200 tons of polluted water into the ocean.
TEPCO will announce at a later date how much contaminated water it will discharge for a year starting next April. These plans have been reported to the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Contaminated water disposal status
TEPCO has already started the first discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on August 24. On the 20th of last month, we completed the third discharge, and the total amount of contaminated water disposed of until the third discharge was about 23,400 tons. Through these outreach efforts, polluted water is constantly being reduced.
Contaminated water storage status
A total of 1.38 million tons of contaminated water is currently stored at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as of last September. The amount of polluted water discharged so far is less than 2% of the total. This is due to the fact that inside reactor 1, melted nuclear fuel rods from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are coming into contact with existing structures and a constant stream of rainwater, creating about 90 tons of contaminated water per day.
Concerns about discharging polluted water
There are also indications that the discharge of contaminated water in Japan could last nearly 100 years. These concerns stem from the prospect that TEPCO’s plans to discharge contaminated water in Japan will continue.
Wrapping Up
TEPCO’s plan to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean for the fourth time has been highly controversial. Concerns continue to be raised about the impact of polluted water discharges on the marine environment.
