Fukushima nuclear water to be released via undersea tunnel

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant says it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing. The operator says it hopes to start releasing the water in 2023. It says hundreds of storage tanks at the plant need to be removed to make room for facilities necessary for the plant’s decommissioning. Radioactive water is being stored at the Fukushima plant since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged three reactors and their cooling water became contaminated and began leaking.