Tokyo, Aug. 26 (Jiji Press) — Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to start dismantling tanks used to store treated wastewater in 2025, which have been emptied since August last year by discharging the water into the Pacific Ocean.

Last year, TEPCO released a total of 60,000 tons of treated water from its meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in eight rounds.

Government and TEPCO investigations in the surrounding sea areas have shown that the concentration of the radioactive substance tritium in the treated water is well below the safety limit. Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report saying the released water meets international safety standards.

TEPCO will begin dismantling the empty tanks as early as next year so that the space occupied by the tanks can be used as a site for the comprehensive disposal of the leftover nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings caused by the meltdown. The meltdown followed the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that severely hit the northeastern Tohoku region.

Water releases have so far been largely on schedule, but there have been some suspensions, including in March this year following a major earthquake and in April due to a power outage caused by damage to an underground cable during excavation work on site.

(Copyright: The Jiji Press, Ltd.)