Japan hopes to start discharging Fukushima nuclear wastewater in July

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People in Fukushima take it to the streets to voice their opposition against a government plan to discharge nuclear wastewater from destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea, April 14, 2023. /CFP

Japan is hoping to start discharging radioactive waste water from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean in July.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) told Kyoto News on Saturday that the excavator is near the exit of the tunnel located one-kilometer offshore. The 1,030-meter tunnel is used to discharge the treated water stored in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. As long as 1,017 meters of the tunnel have been excavated.

TEPCO is trying to complete the tunnel and other facilities related to water discharging before the end of June, and the possibility of starting discharge operations as early as July has increased.

The Japanese government and TEPCO are trying to start discharging around this summer, but fishermen and others continue to oppose it. The plan faces opposition at home and has raised "grave concern" in neighboring countries, including but not limited to China and South Korea.

TEPCO plans to use a large amount of seawater for dilution to make the activity of tritium in treated water less than one-fortieth of national standards, and then discharge it through a seabed tunnel. It is expected to be discharged for several decades.