TEPCO Completes Treated Water Releases for FY 2025

Tokyo, March 24 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that it has completed the seventh and final round of treated water release into the sea for fiscal 2025 from its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan. In the seven rounds for the year ending March 31, a total of about 54,600 tons of treated water containing tritium, a radioactive substance, were discharged from a point about 1 kilometer offshore after being diluted with seawater. About 7,800 tons were released in each round. The overall release amount and the amount in each round were the same as in fiscal 2024. The total amount of tritium discharged in fiscal 2025 stood at about 16 trillion becquerels because treated water containing relatively high concentration of the radioactive material was released so that deteriorated storage tanks could be repaired. The fiscal 2025 treated water discharge proceeded without major problems as a whole although the operations were halted temporarily due to a tsunami warning issued in the wake of a powerful earthquake that struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in July. TEPCO began discharging treated water from the plant in Fukushima Prefecture in August 2023, with the latest release marking the 18th round. Since the start of the operations, the company and the Japanese government have continued monitoring tritium concentration in seawater and fishery products, finding that tritium levels have remained far below the state-set standards. In fiscal 2026, which begins next month, TEPCO plans to release about 62,400 tons of treated water in eight rounds. The total amount of tritium to be discharged is forecast at about 11 trillion becquerels. The Fukushima No. 1 plant was knocked out in the March 2011 powerful earthquake and tsunami. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]