Sea Pollution

At a small section of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's central control room in northeastern Japan, the treated water transfer switch is on. A graph on a computer monitor nearby shows a steady decrease of water levels as treated radioactive wastewater is diluted and released into the Pacific Ocean. In the coastal area of the plant, two seawater pumps are in action, gushing torrents of seawater through sky blue pipes into the big header where the treated water, which comes down through a much thinner black pipe from the hilltop tanks, gets diluted by hundreds of times before the release. The sound of the treated and diluted radioactive water flowing into an underground secondary pool was heard from beneath the ground during Sunday's first plant tour for media, including The Associated Press, since the controversial release began. The best way to eliminate the contaminated water is to remove the melted fuel debris, said Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings spokesperson Kenichi .

All equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for a safety inspection by Japanese regulators this week, the plant operator said Monday, as opposition to the plan continues in and outside Japan over safety concerns. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said it installed the last piece of an undersea tunnel dug to release the water offshore, completing the construction of the necessary equipment that began last August. A mandatory safety inspection of the equipment will begin Wednesday, said Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shinichi Yamanaka, who visited the Fukushima Daiichi plant last week. If everything goes well, TEPCO is expected to receive a safety permit for the release about a week after the inspection ends, officials said. Discharge of the treated water is expected to begin this summer, although the exact date has not been set. The plan has faced fierce .

The United Nations and various other international organizations observed World Oceans Day annually on June 8

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