THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
August 11, 2023 at 14:44 JST
A fish market in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on April 14, 2022 (Keitaro Fukuchi)
The Fisheries Agency will conduct daily checks of tritium levels in fish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture after treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is released into the ocean.
The agency announced on Aug. 10 that the results of the checks would be released two days later.
The study will continue for about a month after the start of the discharge of water treated after being contaminated with radiation within the plant grounds.
The government plans to begin releasing the water, which has accumulated at the crippled plant for more than a decade and is nearing the capacity of storage tanks on the site, later this summer.
China has been especially virulent in opposing the discharge of the treated water due to environmental concerns.
The results of the daily checks will be released in Japanese and English by the Fisheries Agency.
Seafood caught in two locations within a 10-kilometer radius of the Fukushima No. 1 plant will be subject to the study.
The agency has the ability to check two samples per day and it had planned to conduct such checks for a total of 90 days in the current fiscal year.
Japan has no standards for tritium levels in food because the radionuclide does not accumulate or become concentrated in the body even if ingested through food.
However, economy ministry officials have said they could suspend the discharge of the treated water if unusual concentrations of tritium are detected in the seafood.
Japan eyeing Fukushima water release at the end of August
August 7, 2023
Japanese eateries in China fear ruin as Fukushima water discharge looms
July 31, 2023
TEPCO says water release is a milestone in decommissioning of Fukushima nuclear plant
July 30, 2023
Fukushima plant water release within weeks raises worries about setbacks to businesses, livelihoods
July 24, 2023
EDITORIAL: China is playing the Fukushima water standoff for its own gain
July 21, 2023
Minister: China won’t meet on Fukushima water release
July 18, 2023
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
