Japan Starts Release Of Third Phase Fukushima Radioactive Water Waste

PLTN Fukushima Japan. (Wikimedia Commons/IAEA Imagebank/Tokyo Electric Power Co., TEPCO)

JAKARTA - Japan began dismantling the third wave of radioactive water that had been processed from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (PLTN), heading to the Pacific Ocean.

The release of the third phase of Fukushima nuclear waste water will last until November 20, according to Tokyo-based Kyodo news agency.

Despite opposition from China and Russia, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) as the owner and operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said it would continue its plan to dispose of the nuclear wastewater into the sea. The company plans to dispose of about 460 tons of wastewater per day into the sea about one kilometer from the coast via underwater tunnels, the report said.

The fourth stage of disposal will begin in March by releasing a total of about 31,200 tons of water.

In the previous release, about 460 tons of processed water had been released daily for 18 days.

Japan began releasing treated radioactive waste water from PLTN Fukushima in August, prompting a strong reaction from China and opposition parties in South Korea and the Solomon Islands.

This PLTN has more than one million tons of wastewater that has been processed and will be disposed of during the 30-year process.

In 2011, the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan caused severe damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The damage caused the biggest nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. The accident forced the shutdown of the power plant.