IAEA: Tritium levels in water around Fukushima remain below operational limits

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it is continuing to collect water samples around Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant and analyse them independently. According to the agency, tritium concentrations in the water remain below the operational limits set by Japan. The plant’s operator, Tepco, began discharging treated water into the sea towards the end of October. The process is expected to take 30 years, and the IAEA intends to oversee it throughout.

Japan announced its intention to discharge treated water containing tritium from the plant in April 2021, and the plant’s operator, Tepco, began the discharge on 24 August this year. Since then, IAEA staff have regularly collected samples from several locations within a three-kilometre radius, both at sea and along the coast.

"The results of independent sampling and analysis of seawater off the coast are consistent with the figures reported by Tepco and Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. Tepco publishes results on its website daily, showing that tritium concentrations in the water are below the operational limits—that is, the limits set for the ALPS discharge process, which must not be exceeded. The agency is continuing to analyse all seawater samples collected," the agency said, according to World Nuclear News (WNN).

According to WNN, the agency has been collecting seawater samples around Fukushima for more than ten years at the request of the Japanese government. The government asked the agency to help ensure high quality, credibility and transparency in the process of monitoring seawater parameters. This process follows the agency’s recommendations on seawater quality monitoring in its 2013 report.