Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant starts 3rd release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea

tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began its third release of treated and diluted rioactive wastewater into sea Thursday after Japanese officials said two earlier releases ended smoothly.

plant operator discharged 7,800 tons of treated water in each of first two batches and plans to release same amount in current batch through Nov. 20.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said its workers activated first of two pumps to dilute treated water with large amounts of seawater, grually sending mixture into Pacific Ocean through an undersea tunnel for an offshore release.

plant began first wastewater release in August and will continue to do so for deces. About 1.34 million tons of rioactive wastewater is stored in about 1,000 tanks at plant. It has accumulated since plant was crippled by massive earthquake and tsunami that struck norastern Japan in 2011.

TEPCO and government say discharging water into sea is unavoidable because tanks are nearly full and plan needs to be decommissioned.

wastewater discharges have been strongly opposed by fishing groups and neighboring countries including South Korea, where hundreds of people staged protests. China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood, bly hurting Japanese seafood producers and exporters.

Japan’s government has set up a relief fund to help find new markets and reduce impact of China’s seafood ban, while central and local governments have led a campaign to eat fish and support Fukushima, now joined by many consumers.

water is treated to remove as much rioactivity as possible n greatly diluted with seawater before it is released. TEPCO and government say process is safe, but some scientists say continuing release is unprecedented and should be monitored closely.

So far, results of marine samplings by TEPCO and government have detected tritium, which y say is inseparable by existing technology, at levels far smaller than World Health Organization's standard for drinking water.

In a recent setback, two plant workers were splashed with rioactive waste while cleaning piping at water treatment facility and were hospitalized for exposure.

International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded that if release is carried out as planned, it would have a negligible impact on environment, marine life and human health. IAEA mission officials said last month y were reassured by smooth operation so far.