Is it true that Japan releases nuclear waste water into the sea?

It is true that Japan discharges nuclear sewage into the sea.

On August 22, 2023, the Japanese government announced that it would start to discharge Fukushima nuclear polluted water into the sea on August 24. Japan's nuclear polluted water has been discharged into the sea for at least 30 years, affecting the entire Pacific Ocean and even the global waters. Due to the long time span and wide influence, the Japanese government's decision, once announced, caused many objections. At August 24, 2023 13 local time, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan began to discharge nuclear polluted water into the sea.

On August 26th, 2023, according to the report of Japanese TBS TV station, TEPCO admitted that about 66% of radioactive substances in the nuclear polluted water in the storage tank exceeded the standard. When asked when the nuclear polluted water can be completely discharged, the head of TEPCO crisis public relations said that TEPCO has no specific plan for when the nuclear polluted water can be completely discharged.

On August 28th, 2023, the discharge of nuclear polluted water in Fukushima, Japan has entered the fifth day. According to the data released by Tokyo Electric Power Company, as of 0: 00 local time yesterday (27th), the total discharge of nuclear polluted water has reached about 1095 tons.

The difference between nuclear polluted water and nuclear wastewater;

"Nuclear polluted water" and "nuclear wastewater" are two related but different concepts, which are usually used to describe different types of radioactive pollution. Nuclear polluted water refers to radioactive or harmful substances existing in the water environment, while nuclear wastewater refers to wastewater containing radioactive substances produced by nuclear system. Both of them need strict monitoring, control and treatment to reduce the potential impact on the environment and human health.

Nuclear polluted water may be caused by nuclear accident, nuclear test and leakage of nuclear facilities. Nuclear wastewater may come from nuclear power plants, nuclear research facilities, nuclear medical institutions and other places. Treating nuclear wastewater is a key task, because it needs to effectively remove radioactive substances and ensure that the risk of wastewater discharge to the environment and human health is minimized.