Radioactivity Level In Water Discharged From Japan's Fukushima Power Plant Within Safe Limits: TEPCO

The nuclear power plant started releasing the first batch of water, collected on-site in 12 years, since March 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed its cooling systems.

New Delhi: Samples collected after the release of wastewater from Fukushima nuclear reactor showed radioactivity levels within safe limits, operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said, reported news agency AFP. The nuclear power plant started releasing the first batch of water, collected on-site in 12 years, since March 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed its cooling systems.

Addressing a press conference, TEPCO spokesman Keisuke Matsuo said, “We confirmed that the analysed value is equal to the calculated concentration and that the analysed value is below 1,500 Becquerels per litre.” Becquerels per litre is a measure of radioactivity and the national safety limit is 60,000.

TEPCO had started collecting water samples from the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, AFP reported.

"We will continue to conduct analysis every day over the next one month and even after that, maintain our analysis effort. By providing swift, easy-to-understand explanations we hope to dispel various concerns," Matsuo said.

“The results were similar to our previous simulation and sufficiently below the safety limit,” he added.

According to TEPCO, water from cooling the remains of three reactors were filtered of all radioactive elements, except tritium, and it is safe.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), too, said on Thursday that samples collected from the first batch of diluted water showed that tritium levels were well within safe limits, AFP reported.

"IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the discharge of accumulated wastewater, China widened a ban on Japanese seafood imports, saying the action is contaminating the ocean, AFP reported.

Japan’s Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura echoed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in urging China, Japan's biggest market for seafood, to reverse the ban, AFP reported. "The Japanese government... will strongly demand baseless regulations to be immediately terminated," he said.