Fukushima nuclear plant water to be released via undersea tunnel

Nuclear reactor units at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, north-eastern Japan (Hiro Komae/AP)

The operator of the wrecked Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant has said it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean.

The discharge would be about one kilometre away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing, it said.