TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Monday kicked off a new round of discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea, marking the 23rd such release since the controversial operation began in 2023.

This photo taken on March 6, 2023 shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Futabacho, Futabagun of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Photo: Xinhua)

The discharge started at 11:29 a.m. local time. According to the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), about 7,800 tonnes of wastewater containing approximately 1.2 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium will be released into the ocean.

The latest discharge, also the fifth round in fiscal 2026, is scheduled to continue through Sept. 18.

In August 2023, Japan unilaterally launched the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant into the ocean despite concerns and opposition from the international community. Aug. 24 this year marked three years since the controversial operation began, with a cumulative total of approximately 173,000 tonnes of wastewater released to date.

According to data from TEPCO, as of Aug. 13, storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant still held about 1.235 million tonnes of nuclear-contaminated water.