VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI, Jakarta - Pre-discharge test results released by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) show the third batch of nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima to be discharged in the third round of Japan's nuclear wastewater disposal process to the sea contains carbon-14, cobalt 60, strontium-90, and several other types of radionuclides. TEPCO said that preparations for the third round in the process of discharging wastewater into the sea will begin after the second round is completed, and that relevant maintenance and confirmation operations have been carried out. This is despite growing concerns and resistance among local fishermen and from other countries.

After passing through the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) must enter measurement and confirmation facilities and await the results of pre-discharge testing before being discharged into the sea. The measurement and confirmation facility is divided into three groups of 10 tanks with each group used on a rotational basis as receiving tanks, measurement and confirmation tanks, and discharge tanks. Currently, the 10 tanks in Group B have been emptied in the first round of wastewater discharge that started on August 24.

Meanwhile, 10 tanks in Group C were confirmed to have met the discharge standards on September 21, and their discharge began on October 5. Sampling of nuclear wastewater stored in Group A tanks for the third round of disposal was completed on July 10. According to TEPCO's report on Thursday (Oct 19), the analysis results showed that the wastewater contained trace amounts of carbon-14, cobalt 60, strontium-90, iodine-129, and cesium-137, with strontium-90 not detected in the second round of discharge on Oct 5.

TEPCO claims that its ALPS facility, a multinuclide removal system, can remove 62 radioactive substances except tritium. However, it was found that about 70 percent of the water in the waste storage tanks contained non-tritium radionuclides at concentrations exceeding regulatory standards for discharge into the natural environment. (VOI)