Japan Fisheries Agency: "No Tritium Detected in First Fish Inspection After Contaminated Water Discharge"

Two Caught Yesterday... "Below Detection Threshold of Dedicated Equipment"

On the 26th, Japan's Fisheries Agency announced that no radioactive substance tritium was detected in fish caught the previous day near the discharge outlet of contaminated water (referred to as "treated water" by the Japanese government) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

According to Kyodo News and Yomiuri Shimbun, the Fisheries Agency confirmed that the tritium concentration in the fish was below the detection limit of about 8 becquerels (Bq) per kilogram, which is the lower limit detectable by specialized equipment, and thus announced the result as "not detected."

The Fisheries Agency caught one flounder and one greenling around 6 a.m. the previous day at a point approximately 5 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant to check the tritium concentration in seafood for the first time since the contaminated water discharge began.

The tritium concentration analysis was conducted at a research institute located in Tagajo City, Miyagi Prefecture.

The Japanese government is conducting this investigation to assure the safety of domestically produced seafood following the start of the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water discharge into the ocean on the 24th.

The Fisheries Agency plans to catch fish around the nuclear power plant for one month, conduct inspections, and publish the results in both Japanese and English.

On the 24th, when the Japanese government announced its plan to start discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (referred to as "treated water" by the Japanese government) into the ocean, a fish market vendor near Onahama Port in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, was selling seafood.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Additionally, Japan's Ministry of the Environment is collecting seawater near the Fukushima nuclear power plant to analyze tritium concentrations, while the Nuclear Regulation Authority and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) are independently investigating seawater.

TEPCO announced that the analysis of seawater samples collected from 10 locations within a 3 km radius of the nuclear power plant the previous day showed tritium concentrations all below 10 Bq per liter, which is within the normal range.

If tritium levels exceeding 700 Bq per liter within 3 km of the plant or 30 Bq per liter beyond that distance are detected, the discharge will be suspended.

The first analysis results from the Ministry of the Environment, conducted separately, are expected to be released on the 27th.

Meanwhile, according to the webpage established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to disclose discharge data and safety evaluations, as of 3:50 p.m. on the same day, the tritium concentration in the diluted contaminated water was 206 Bq per liter.

TEPCO is discharging about 460 tons of diluted contaminated water into the sea daily. The tritium concentration during discharge is regulated to be below 1,500 Bq per liter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.