Japan

Japan says no radioactivity found in Fukushima fish

Reuters

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Japan says no radioactivity found in Fukushima fish

COLLECTION. A boat collects seawater for monitoring radioactive materials in the sea is seen near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, after the nuclear power plant started releasing treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan August 24, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo.

Kyodo/via REUTERS

After lengthy debate, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decides to allow the release of 1.3 million tons of treated water from the Fukushima plant, destroyed by a 2011 tsunami, due to lack of storage

TOKYO, Japan – Japan’s fisheries agency said on Saturday, August 26, fish tested in waters around the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant did not contain detectable levels of the radioactive isotope tritium, Kyodo news service reported.

Nets were set up on Thursday when plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) 9501.T began releasing treated radioactive water into the Pacific, angering fishermen and many others in Japan, alarming consumers in neighboring countries. It also prompted China to ban Japanese aquatic products.

The agency plans to announce test results daily. Tepco said on Friday seawater near the plant contained less than 10 becquerels of tritium per liter, below its self-imposed limit of 700 becquerels, and far below the World Health Organization’s limit of 10,000 becquerels for drinking water.

Must Read

EXPLAINER: More nuclear challenges await Japan after Fukushima water release

EXPLAINER: More nuclear challenges await Japan after Fukushima water release

Calls to the fisheries agency for comment were not answered on Saturday.

After lengthy debate, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided on Tuesday to allow the release of 1.3 million tons of treated water from the Fukushima plant, destroyed by a 2011 tsunami, because Tepco was running out of storage space.

The utility filters most radioactive elements out of the water, but it dilutes tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, which is difficult to separate from water. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI