Operations begin today for the third release of water into the ocean from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan .

This was confirmed by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), which plans to pump around 460 tons of treated water per day until November 20 .

The upcoming spill represents the third of four expected by the end of March , totaling approximately 31,200 tons of water stored in more than 1,000 tanks located on the site.

During the previous release , the operator said it detected up to 22 becquerels of radioactive tritium per liter of seawater in samples taken from areas adjacent to the discharge, well below the limit of 10,000 becquerels set by the World Organization. of health (WHO) for drinking water. An opinion not shared by neighboring countries, primarily China and Russia, which have imposed a total ban on imports of Japanese fish products.

Local fishermen in Fukushima prefecture are also skeptical , opposing the Tokyo government's decision to release the water, fearing for the image of their products .

Wastewater, generated in the process of cooling molten fuel inside the reactors, passes through an advanced treatment system that removes most radionuclides except tritium.

The water release operations - which will continue for three decades - are seen by the executive as a fundamental step for the dismantling of the power plant hit by the catastrophic earthquake of March 2011 and the subsequent tsunami.

(Unioneonline/vl)