Is Fukushima Contaminated Water Discharge Safe for Seafood Consumption?

Fishing Industry "2011 Nightmare... Need to Examine Sales Trends"
"By 4-5 Years, When It Reaches Korea, It Will Be Diluted"
"No Decommissioning Technology for Accident Nuclear Plants" Suspicions About Discharge Intentions

On the 24th, the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan began, causing a downturn in the fisheries industry. The government and ruling party stated, "We are continuously monitoring the discharge situation and will take timely and best measures to ensure that there is no impact on the safety and health of the public," but concerns about the safety of seafood remain difficult to calm.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Cha Deok-ho, president of the Seoul Noryangjin Fish Market Merchants Association, said that there were more customers visiting the fish market than expected during the first weekend after the contaminated water discharge began. He reported, "Compared to last weekend (the 19th-20th), sales this weekend (the 26th-27th) increased by 1.5 to 2 times."

However, judging that the contaminated water discharge has not affected the fisheries industry based on this weekend's sales is premature. Since consumers who want to eat seafood before the discharged contaminated water has an impact are likely to gradually reduce their seafood consumption, it is necessary to observe seafood sales trends for a longer period.

In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 28th, Cha said, "Some people wanted to eat before contamination, and others said, 'It's okay, I don't care.'" He added, "It seems necessary to monitor sales trends for a week to a month." He continued, "Because the nightmare of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident is revived, I worry about how long this will last. Our livelihoods depend on this, and if consumers turn away, we may have to close down, so that is our biggest concern."

Kim Young-bok, vice president of the National Fishermen's Association, also said that fishermen's worries are great. On YTN Radio that day, Kim said, "Sales of abalone, snow crabs, shrimp, and others are generally very poor, and customers are hardly visiting not only sashimi restaurants but also wholesale markets," adding, "We were skeptical, but now that concerns have become reality, fishermen are devastated."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, Kang Geon-wook, a professor of nuclear medicine at Seoul National University, explained that the discharged contaminated water is diluted in the ocean, so it is safe to consume seafood. In an interview with YTN Radio's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon,' Professor Kang said, "Even if you consume seafood, tritium comes in the form of water and exits the human body. Most of it leaves within ten days, and about 2% leaves after around 40 days."

Repeated treatment of contaminated water with the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) can reduce the concentration of 62 radioactive substances, including cesium and strontium, in the contaminated water below standard levels. However, since tritium is not removed through this process, Professor Kang refuted claims that it would accumulate in the human body through seafood consumption.

Professor Kang emphasized, "Anyway, it is all diluted in the Pacific Ocean and carried by ocean currents to the United States, so it does not reach Korea immediately. By the time it reaches Korea in about 4 to 5 years, it will be reduced to one ten-quadrillionth, an amount too small to measure."

The day after the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, on the 25th, a vendor is waiting for customers at the Noryangjin Fish Market in Dongjak-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, there are also skeptical views about the very intention behind the decommissioning of the nuclear power plant, which was the justification for Japan's ocean discharge of contaminated water. Japan pushed ahead with the ocean discharge despite opposition from neighboring countries to decommission the nuclear power plant. The plan is to discharge all contaminated water over the next 30 years and decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plant by 2051.

Seo Kyun-ryeol, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, raised doubts, saying, "There is no technology for humanity to decommission a nuclear power plant where an accident has occurred, so why rush the discharge now?" He added, "Unless you think it means 'We will erase all traces of Fukushima within Japanese territory so that nuclear power can revive,' it is technically incomprehensible." Professor Seo was in charge of the major accident division at the U.S. nuclear company Westinghouse.

In an interview with the YouTube channel 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Hard News Factory,' Professor Seo explained, "Decommissioning is not that simple. It takes 60 years to decommission one plant. Here (in Japan), they are working on units 1, 2, 3, and 4 simultaneously. Of course, if the budget is quadrupled, it might be possible, but it takes 10 years to prepare. They haven't even entered the preparation stage yet."

He pointed out, "There is decommissioning technology, but that is for plants like Korea's Kori Unit 1 and Wolsong Unit 1, which were decommissioned during normal operation with their external structures intact. There is no case of decommissioning a plant that had an accident like Fukushima." Professor Seo said, "The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in 1979 was on a scale one-thousandth of this, and Chernobyl in 1987 had so much contamination that they couldn't decommission it and instead covered it with concrete, eventually giving up on decommissioning."

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