Briefly

JAPAN

2nd round of toxic water release on Oct 5

Japan will begin releasing a second batch of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant from next week, its operator has said, despite the exercise angering the international community and environmentalists when it began in August. "The inspections following the first release have been completed … The (second) discharge will start on Oct 5," TEPCO said on Thursday. In the first phase, around 7,800 metric tons of nuclear-contaminated water were released into the Pacific out of a planned total of 1.34 million tons, equivalent to more than 500 Olympic swimming pools.