Japan will begin the fifth round of releasing nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean on Friday morning (19), the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced on Wednesday (17).
This action should last until May 7, according to TEPCO.
According to information released by the company in January this year, it will release around 54,600 tons of water contaminated with nuclear energy from the facility into the ocean in seven rounds in fiscal year 2024, starting in April.
Internal opposition and distrust renewed after TEPCO admitted that on February 7 it discovered that about 5.5 tons of water containing radioactive materials leaked from the outlet of a device used to purify nuclear-contaminated water at the nuclear power plant. Fukushima.
This water can contain 22 billion becquerels – a unit of measurement for radioactivity – of radioactive materials, such as cesium and strontium.
According to TEPCO, the cause of the incident was human error, as 10 of the 16 valves on the device that should have been closed were open.
In October last year, five workers were directly exposed to liquid waste containing radioactive materials at the damaged factory.
Struck by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear plant suffered central meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level 7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear Event Scale. and Radiological.
The plant has generated a huge amount of water contaminated with radioactive substances from the cooling of nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which are now being stored in tanks at the nuclear plant.
In August 2023, Japan began releasing water from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean, despite repeated objections from governments and communities, environmental groups, non-governmental organizations, and anti-nuclear movements in Japan and the Pacific region.
*with information from CCTV, a Chinese state-owned company
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
