UPDATE1: Japan to begin releasing second batch of Fukushima water on Oct. 5

The release of the second batch of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean will commence on Oct. 5, the facility's operator said Thursday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to release approximately 7,800 tons of treated radioactive water, the same amount as the first discharge, into the sea over a period of around 17 days.

Preparations will begin next Tuesday to confirm tritium levels when the treated water is diluted with sea water before release.

Release of the first batch of water began on Aug. 24 and was completed on Sept. 11. No abnormalities have been detected so far in tritium levels in seawater or fish samples collected by the government, TEPCO and Fukushima Prefecture around the nuclear power plant.

TEPCO and the government maintain that disposing of the treated water is a crucial step toward decommissioning the nuclear plant, which was severely damaged in the wake of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

As the volume of processed water, which had been used to cool melted nuclear fuel and has mixed with rain and groundwater, approached the plant's storage capacity limit, TEPCO decided to release approximately 31,200 tons in four rounds during the current fiscal year through March.

Tritium contained in the discharged water is expected to total approximately 5 trillion becquerels, less than a quarter of the annual upper limit of 22 trillion becquerels, according to TEPCO.

==Kyodo