Japan Initiates the Eighth Batch of Fukushima Nuclear Contaminated Water Discharge into the Sea

According to a report by Japan's Jiji Press on August 7th, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) initiated the eighth batch of nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea on the same day. The discharge volume is approximately 7,800 tons and is expected to be completed by August 25th.

Japan began discharging nuclear contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on August 24th, 2023. So far, it has discharged seven batches of nuclear contaminated water, with a cumulative discharge volume of approximately 55,000 tons. TEPCO plans to discharge a total of seven batches of nuclear contaminated water in the fiscal year 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025), with a total volume of approximately 54,600 tons. This nuclear contaminated water discharge is the fourth batch in the fiscal year 2024.

The Japanese government and TEPCO, citing the large number of storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant hindering the decommissioning operations, decided to discharge the nuclear contaminated water that has been treated and diluted by the "Advanced Liquid Processing System" into the sea. Despite strong opposition at home and abroad to the discharge decision, the Japanese government and TEPCO still initiated the discharge of nuclear contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on August 24th, 2023.

The nuclear contaminated water from Fukushima contains more than 60 types of radionuclides, such as tritium, carbon-14, iodine-129, etc. For many of these radionuclides, there are no effective treatment technologies yet. Once people consume seafood contaminated by radioactive elements, it could induce radiation sickness and increase the risk of diseases such as cancer.