Following Thursday’s discharge of Fukushima wastewater, Tokyo Electric Power Company or “TEPCO” has begun gathering seawater samples from 10 locations within a distance of three kilometres of the power plant.
The procedure aims to determine how many radioactive materials have spread into the ocean and what the impact will be.
For the three-kilometre sampling point, the concentration of the water should be less than 700 Becquerels per litre.
If the samples exceed the level, the discharge will be halted.
TEPCO announced the first test results, saying that the concentration levels were within the standards.
In addition, data released by the International Atomic Energy Agency shows that at 6 PM on both Thursday and Friday, tritium concentration levels were found to be at 206 becquerels per litre -also within the normal range set by the World Health Organization.
Separate from TEPCO, Japan’s Environment Ministry also began collecting seawater samples, but from eleven different locations with a radius of fifty kilometres around the power plant.
The ministry will then continue to publish sample results throughout the next three months.
Meanwhile, during a press conference on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed specific issues and vowed to protect Japan’s fisheries industry.
“The Japanese government will take all possible measures, including utilizing funds and compensation from Tokyo Electric Power Company, so that fisheries’ businesses will not suffer from the release of ALPS-treated water into the ocean, including reputational damage.”
South Korean Environment Ministry has also announced the beginning of its experiments in the field of ocean water concentration.
China has condemned Tokyo’s attempt to release the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
However, Japan has repeatedly emphasized that these waters are safe and will not adversely affect people or the environment.
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