Japan Fisheries Agency to Conduct Daily Inspections of Seafood Near Nuclear Plant After Contaminated Water Discharge

According to Kyodo News on the 10th, the Japanese Fisheries Agency announced that it will conduct daily surveys and promptly release the concentration of tritium, a radioactive substance, in fish such as flounder caught around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant for about a month after the start of the release of contaminated water into the ocean.

Contaminated water storage tanks inside the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the report, the Fisheries Agency plans to investigate up to two samples caught within a 10 km radius of the nuclear power plant every day and announce the results the following day. A total of 180 samples are scheduled to be examined this year, with weekly surveys conducted before the release and daily surveys continuing after the release begins.

On the same day, the Fisheries Agency also announced the results of the first rapid survey of two samples, including flounder. The agency stated that the tritium concentration detected in both samples was below the limit.

The Japanese government has previously conducted tritium surveys on fish, but it is reported that the existing precise analysis method takes about a month and a half to produce results.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Consul General in Osaka, who has strongly opposed the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, criticized the plan to discharge contaminated water into the ocean at a lecture on the same day, saying, "If it is safe, why doesn't (Japan) use it as drinking water or agricultural water?" according to Kyodo News.