The operator of the emergency nuclear power plant “Fukushima-1” – the company TEPCO – for the first time since the beginning of the discharge of low-level radioactive water, has detected tritium in the sea on the northeastern border of the port adjacent to the station.
⠀
Its concentration was ten becquerels per liter – this is the lower limit of the so-called detection level. The permissible limit for tritium concentration in drinking water is ten thousand becquerels per liter.
⠀
TEPCO has set a limit of 700 becquerels per liter, upon reaching which the discharge of water from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant will be stopped.
Tritium concentrations in seawater at other locations within a ten-kilometer radius of the station remain below the “detection level.”
⠀
On August 24, TERSO began dumping water into the ocean, which was used to cool damaged reactors. The water was purified by the ALPS system, which allows you to get rid of 62 types of radionuclides, except for tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Water is stored in tanks with a total volume of 1.37 million tons, but almost 90 percent is already filled.
⠀
The test discharge of water will last 17 days, during which it is supposed to send 7,800 cubic meters into the ocean. The total volume of water discharged until March 31, 2024 will be 31.2 thousand tons with a concentration of radioactive tritium of five trillion becquerels.
⠀
Although TEPCO and Japanese authorities claim that the water release does not threaten the environment and humans, China and other countries have sharply criticized the decision. In particular, Beijing banned the import of all seafood from Japan and tightened customs controls on other goods.
