A member of the team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) observes the inshore fish as the sample at Hisanohama Port in Iwaki, northeastern Japan Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. They are visiting Fukushima for its first marine sampling mission since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started releasing the treated radioactive wastewater into the sea.
| Photo Credit: AP

A team of international scientists collected fish samples from a port town near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday, seeking to assess the impact of the plant’s recent release of treated radioactive water into the sea.

The study by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is the first since the water release began in August, a move that drew criticism from local fisherman and prompted China to ban all imports of marine products from Japan over food safety fears.

Scientists from China, South Korea and Canada observed the collection of fish samples delivered fresh off the boat at Hisanohama port, about 50 kilometres south of the plant which was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The samples will be sent to laboratories in each country for independent testing, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

Also Read | What’s happening at Fukushima plant 12 years after meltdown?

“The Japanese government has requested that we do this and one of the reasons they want us to do this is to try and strengthen confidence in the data that Japan is producing,” said Paul McGinnity, a research scientist with the IAEA overseeing the survey.

More than a million metric tons of water – enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools – was contaminated from contact with fuel rods at the reactor following the 2011 disaster.

Before being released, the water is filtered to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate, plant operator Tepco says. The water is also diluted until tritium levels fall below regulatory limits.

Tritium is considered to be relatively harmless because its radiation is not energetic enough to penetrate human skin; however, when ingested at levels above those in the released water it can raise cancer risks, a Scientific American article said in 2014.

An aerial photo of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. File
| Photo Credit: AP

“The first phase of releasing treated waste water from Fukushima that has angered China will end on September 11 as planned,” the stricken Japanese nuclear plant’s operator said.

“TEPCO added that levels of radioactive tritium in tested seawater samples near the plant in north-east Japan were within safe limits,” according to a statement on September 7.

Why is Japan planning to flush Fukushima wastewater into the ocean?

Japan began on August 24 discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34 million tonnes of waste water that has collected since a tsunami crippled the facility in 2011.

Japan insists that the discharge is safe, a view backed by the UN atomic agency, but China banned all seafood imports from its neighbour, accusing it of treating the sea like a “sewer”.

Announcing the end of the first phase of releasing 7,800 tonnes of the water on September 11, TEPCO gave no date for the start of the second discharge.

“After completion of the first discharge, we will conduct an inspection of (the) entire … water dilution/discharge facility and review the operational records from the first discharge,” it said.

It added that a “leak alarm” sounded on Wednesday in a waste water transfer line, but that no leak was detected. Staff “quickly conducted a field inspection in accordance with safety check procedures and it was confirmed that there was no leak of… treated water,” the statement said.

The water, equivalent to 540 Olympic pools’ worth, has been used to cool the three reactors that went into meltdown in 2011, in one of the world’s worst nuclear catastrophes.

Japan says that all radioactive elements have been filtered out except tritium, levels of which are well within safe limits and below that released by nuclear plants in their normal operations around the world.

How Japan plans to release Fukushima water into the ocean

The release, which is expected to take decades to complete, is aimed at making space to begin removing the highly dangerous radioactive fuel and rubble from the wrecked reactors.

Last week Prime Minister Fumio Kishida publicly ate fish from Fukushima in an effort to reassure consumers, as did the U.S. Ambassador to Japan in a show of support.

The government on Monday also beefed up an aid package for the fishing sector following the seafood import ban by China, Japan’s biggest export market for fish.

In this photo provided by Cabinet Public Affairs Office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida eats the seafood from Fukushima prefecture at lunch at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Japan’s prime minister ate what he called “safe and delicious” fish from Fukushima on Wednesday, days after wastewater was released from the area’s crippled nuclear plant into the Pacific.

A video clip showing Fumio Kishida eating Fukushima fish, published on social media by his office, comes after China banned all seafood imports from its neighbour following the discharge that began on August 24.

“This is very good,” Mr. Kishida said as he chewed on a slice of flounder sashimi, calling on viewers to enjoy “safe and delicious” Japanese seafood to support the northeastern region.

The clip, overlaid by cheery music, showed the conservative leader joined by three other ministers at his office for sashimi, boiled pork, fruits, rice and vegetables from the Fukushima region.

It was designed to promote products from the area 12 years after Fukushima was devastated by a huge earthquake and tsunami that triggered one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.

Even before the wastewater release, many in Japan’s fishing industry were worried about what it would do to the reputation of the country’s seafood domestically and abroad.

The discharge, equivalent to more than 500 Olympic swimming pools, is expected to take decades and will allow engineers to start removing highly dangerous radioactive fuel from three wrecked reactors.

Bricks and eggs have been thrown at Japanese schools and consulates in China and Tokyo has advised its nationals there to keep a low profile. Businesses in Japan have also been swamped with nuisance calls from Chinese numbers.

Mr. Kishida was expected to visit Tokyo’s main Toyosu fish market on Thursday to sample more Fukushima fish.

Japan has demanded that China – its biggest market for fish – drop its ban on seafood imports while warning it will complain to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Mr. Kishida’s government is also reportedly planning a package of financial aid for the fishing industry while also helping it find new export markets.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reiterated on Wednesday that the water being released was safe according to the UN watchdog.

In a show of support for Japan, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, was due to visit the Fukushima area on Thursday and eat locally caught seafood.