Tokyo, Aug. 31 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Monday started the fifth round of treated water releases for fiscal 2026 from its disaster-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan into the ocean. In the operation, set to run until Sept. 18, about 7,800 tons of water containing radioactive tritium will be released about 1 kilometer off the coast after being diluted with a large amount of seawater and transported through an undersea tunnel. The current operation is the 23rd round since discharges of treated water began at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture in August 2023. TEPCO plans to release a total of about 62,400 tons of treated water in eight rounds during the current fiscal year that began in April this year. Concentrations of tritium in seawater and fishery products nearby have remained far below state-set safety standards, according to monitoring surveys by TEPCO and the government. The nuclear power plant suffered a triple meltdown following a powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in March 2011. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]