In a bid to quell safety concerns, Japan's fisheries agency has been testing fish off the coast of Fukushima daily since the country began releasing treated water from its wrecked nuclear plant into the sea last month. But will that bolster the reputation of Japan's fishing industry? Olivia Chan takes a look. - REUTERS
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 In Japan's Miyagi Prefecture, just north of Fukushima, researchers like Akira Matsumoto
00:07 are working to help the country quell marine safety concerns.
00:11 Since Japan began releasing treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
00:17 into the sea last month, the researchers have been testing fish from the area every day
00:22 that the weather allows.
00:24 They work on collecting a radioactive isotope called tritium from the fish samples to measure
00:30 the level of radiation.
00:32 Matsumoto says he believes full disclosure of the test results is crucial.
00:39 We are conducting the tests and releasing the results properly so it can help people
00:43 feel assured.
00:52 The results are published on the website of Japan's fishery agency.
00:56 So far, it's reported no fish with detectable levels of tritium.
01:02 But the reputation of Japan's fishing industry has taken a hit since the release of the treated
01:07 water, a move strongly opposed by neighboring countries.
01:11 China has currently suspended imports of all aquatic products from Japan.
01:18 Local wholesalers at a bustling fishing market in Sendai city, just under 70 miles north
01:24 of the stricken nuclear plant, hope the testing can help rebuild customer confidence.
01:30 Katsufumi Ishimori is the vice president of the Sendai Suisan Company.
01:40 I don't want people to question whether we should eat the seafood which China has completely
01:45 banned.
01:50 That's why we post the daily test results at the market, to show that it's safe.
02:06 TEPCO, the operator of the wrecked plant, filters most radioactive elements out of the
02:11 water, but tritium is instead diluted because when it exists in the form of treateated water,
02:18 it is difficult to separate from water.
02:21 Here's University of Portsmouth professor Jim Smith, who studies the impact of radiation
02:26 on aquatic life around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
02:30 Because it's chemically identical to ordinary water, and so it passes through organisms
02:35 like ordinary water, which doesn't biomagnify.
02:38 Smith says that means the treateated water won't accumulate in the bodies of fish, unlike
02:44 other radioactive substances, and will stay at the same level as the waters around the
02:50 fish.
02:51 But he cautioned that the concentration of tritium in the water being released is not
02:56 yet at the maximum planned level.
02:59 The release of the first batch of treated water, equivalent to about three Olympic pools,
03:05 will take about 17 days.
03:08 Estimates show it would take about 30 years to release it all.
03:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]