Cesium detection exceeding 5 times the standard value in fish off Fukushima

Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, Japan © AFP=News1

Local public broadcaster NHK reported on the 22nd that radioactive substances up to five times the standard were detected in rockfish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

Fukushima Prefecture is the place where a large amount of radioactive material was leaked due to the explosion of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, and the safety controversy over the safety of agricultural and marine products from Fukushima is expected to be raised again.

According to reports, the Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives in Fukushima Prefecture announced that more than 500 becquerels per kilogram of cesium were detected in rockfish caught at a depth of 24m, about 8.8km off the coast of Shinchimachi.

This is 5 times the Japanese government’s standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram and 10 times the Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative Federation’s own standard of 50 becquerels per kilogram.

According to NHK, radioactive substances exceeding Japanese government standards were detected in seafood caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, two years after the catch in February 2019.

Accordingly, the Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative Federation decided to stop shipping of rockfish by itself until safety was confirmed.

Previously, the Japan Nuclear Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters completely lifted restrictions on the shipment of all seafood from the offshore of Fukushima Prefecture in February last year.

pbj@news1.kr