New Round of Fukushima Nuclear Contaminated Water Discharge into the Ocean Begins

In the early hours of July 6, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) officially began the 21st round of discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. This discharge cycle will end on July 24, with an estimated 7,800 metric tons of contaminated water to be released. Including this round, the cumulative total of contaminated water discharged into the ocean from Fukushima has exceeded 157,000 metric tons, while 1.3 million metric tons of contaminated water remains in storage tanks at the plant awaiting disposal. From an ecological perspective, long-half-life radionuclides such as tritium and carbon-14 will spread with ocean currents and continue to accumulate in the bodies of marine life—including fish, shrimp, and whales—posing long-term risks to the marine ecosystem.