Treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is about to be discharged into the ocean. The release is scheduled to begin on 1 p.m. on Thursday.

The Japanese government says it is a necessary step to decommission the plant -- more than 12 years after it was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, confirmed it is ready to move ahead with the discharge at a news conference on Thursday morning.

Matsumoto Junichi is the head of TEPCO's division promoting the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Matsumoto said, "Based on the results of the analysis, we have concluded that the dilution was carried out as planned. So we have decided we will start the release at around 1 p.m. today. We are now making preparations for that."

Fukushima Daiichi suffered a triple meltdown in 2011. Since then, water used to cool molten fuel at the plant is mixing with rain and groundwater and the volume has been accumulating.

It is being treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium.

Before the release, the operator is diluting the treated water to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization's guideline for drinking water.

The water will then be moved through a tunnel under the seabed and discharged one kilometer off the coast.

The first round of the process will take around 17 days, and involve the release of about 7,800 tons of treated water.

The full process is expected to take at least thirty years.
Members of local industries have voiced concern over how the release will impact their business.

The government has promised to work hard to prevent any reputational damage.