Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said the government will decide on Tuesday when it will begin to discharge treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. Approximately 1.34 million tons of water have accumulated since the Fukushima plant was knocked out by an earthquake and tsunami that killed 18,000 people in 2011.
Plant operator TEPCO says that with around 1,000 steel tanks now full, space has run out and it wants to gradually start discharging the water into the Pacific via a one-kilometer underwater pipe. Ministers will be meeting on Tuesday to decide when to begin the release of the water. TEPCO is expecting that once the government decision is taken, the release will begin one to two days later. The water has collected over the past 12 years from the water used to cool the three melted-down reactors, combined with groundwater and rain at the site. TEPCO says the water has been diluted and filtered to remove all radioactive substances except tritium, which is far below dangerous levels. The plan has been endorsed by the United Nations atomic watchdog.
Read More: Japan set to decide on Fukushima water discharge on Tuesday
