The industry ministry Friday recommended releasing treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the ocean, saying it would be preferable to releasing it into the atmosphere by boiling it.
The government has been exploring ways to dispose of more than 1 million tons of water used to cool the melted-down cores at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, including groundwater near the site, as the complex is running out of storage space.
The water is being treated using an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS, before being stored in tanks at the plant. But this does not remove tritium and has been found to leave small amounts of other radioactive materials.