Japan Fukushima power plant begins second batch of water release

Japan is set to discharge the second batch of the release of treated radioactive water on October 5.

The release came after Russia on October 4 said Japan had failed to provide full information on the water discharge, despite repeated requests from Moscow and Beijing.

Japan started releasing the water from the plant into the ocean in late-August, drawing strong criticism from China. In retaliation, China imposed a blanket ban on all aquatic imports from Japan.

Japan said the water is safe after being treated to remove most radioactive elements except tritium, a radionuclide difficult to separate from water. It is then diluted to internationally accepted levels before being released. Japan said criticism from Russia and China was unsupported by scientific evidence.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 triggered a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima – the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chornobyl 25 years earlier, in what was then Soviet Ukraine.