Japan's radioactive water: Nuclear watchdog vows 'independent sampling, monitoring'

Amid criticism against Japan's releasing nuclear waste from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief on Friday said the agency is conducting independent sample collection and will keep monitoring the situation.

Rafael Grossi, chief of IAEA, said on X: "@IAEAorg's recent sampling at #Fukushima Daiichi verified tritium levels in water being released are far below operational limits. We'll continue independent sampling and monitoring until completion."

Emphasizing the agency's continuous presence and monitoring at the nuclear plant, he said: "Today I reiterated to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Hayashi Yoshimasa, that we'll be there until the last drop is discharged."

The agency said last month the release of the nuclear waste would have "negligible radiological impact on people and the environment" but refused to endorse Tokyo's decision.

Ignoring opposition from fishing communities and China, Japan on Thursday began releasing treated nuclear waste from the crippled Fukushima power plant into the sea.

In the first phase, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will dilute around 7,800 tons of the treated water with seawater and the diluted water will be released over 17 consecutive days.

The TEPCO has already filled a facility, which is called a discharge vertical shaft, with the treated and diluted water.

Each ton of treated water is mixed with about 1,200 tons of seawater.

There are some 1.3 million tons of treated water at the TEPCO complex and the operator is running out of storage capacity which has forced Japan to release the water into the ocean.