Storage tanks for radioactive water under construction at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Photo: AFP
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has completed a pre-use inspection of the facilities to be used to dilute and discharge more than one-million tonnes of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific.
The inspection process ran from Wednesday until Friday, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said.
This followed internal tests held between June 12 and 26 were conducted by the company in preparation for the final inspection.
"Of the entire system of transfer, dilution, and discharge facilities using sea water and filtrate water.
"These tests were completed on June 26 without issue," a TEPCO spokesperson told RNZ Pacific.
This is all in an effort to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi power plant which was destroyed by the 2011 tsunami. The operation is likely to last three or four decades.
"We will cooperate with the government on the NRA's pre-use inspections," TEPCO said.
The company has finished its construction of the facilities. It installed the discharge outlet caisson upper lid and removed the shield arrival tube (on Monday), the final steps needed before the authority's inspection.
"This marks the completion of the construction of all facilities required for the Unit 3 pre-use inspection to be performed by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA), which is the last of a series of pre-use inspections of ALPS treated water dilution/discharge facilities," TEPCO said.
The authority has been examining the performance of the systems that will strip the wastewater of harmful radionuclides, dilute it and discharge it.
The contaminated water has been used to cool the melted reactor of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
More than 1000 tanks are now full and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is running out of storage space.
Pacific on high alert
Ocean currents experts are predicting the waste would sweep right across the Pacific.
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has been meeting with Japan in an effort to get assurances the operation will be safe.
The Forum's Secretary General Henry Puna has emphasised the important relationship that Japan has with Pacific states.
This week he has issued a strong statement reiterating the regional body's position.
He said the move has the potential to set a "precedent" for deliberate, unilateral dumping of high volumes of nuclear waste into "our ocean".
"This itself poses major impacts and long-term worry for Pacific Island states who should not have to bear another nuclear testing activity.
"New approaches, including alternatives to ocean dumping, are needed and are the responsible way forward," Puna said.
PIF has commissioned an independent panel of experts to verify Japan's data.
Their report is expected to be released following the International Atomic Energy Agencies (IAEA) final report release.