IAEA experts at Japan nuclear site took samples earlier this week
The tritium concentration in the fourth batch of diluted treated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan is far below the country’s operational limit, International Atomic Energy Agency experts have confirmed.
Station owner and operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) started discharging the water on 28 February, the IAEA said.
Experts stationed at the IAEA’s office at the site of the Fukushima nuclear power station took samples after the treated water was diluted with seawater in the discharge facilities on 28 February.
The IAEA’s analysis confirmed that the tritium concentration is far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per litre.
Japan is discharging the treated water in batches. The previous three batches – a total of 23,400 cubic metres of water – were also confirmed by the IAEA to have contained tritium concentrations far below operational limits.
Japan began discharging the first batch of treated water from the station on 24 August.
Over 1.3 million tonnes of water – cleansed of all its radioactive material except tritium – will be gradually poured into the ocean through an underwater tunnel.
Tritium levels will be thinned down to 1/40 of the concentration allowed by Japanese standards. Japan said tritium levels in the water will be below those considered safe for drinking under World Health Organisation standards.
The water was largely used to cool the three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive. Some of it has since leaked into basements of the reactor buildings but was collected and stored in tanks.
