MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. Specialists from Russia’s agricultural regulator have not detected any traces of radiation in fish samples taken since Japanese authorities dumped stored cooling water from the Fukushima-1 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) into the Pacific Ocean, the Primorye Region interregional directorate of Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) said in a statement.
"The Primorye Region interregional directorate of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision has strengthened radiation monitoring over fish products harvested near the site of the mildly radioactive water discharge from the Fukushima-1 NPP. In August, the agricultural watchdog’s Primorye Region veterinary laboratory studied 443 samples of various fish products caught in the fishery subzones of several Russian regions. No positive manifestations [of radioactivity] have been detected," the statement said.
Rosselkhoznadzor’s press service told TASS that this concerns samples taken both before the start of the water dump and afterwards. The monitoring, including of fresh fish, was fast-tracked.
The agency’s statement noted that the monitoring of the radiological safety of fish products is being conducted regularly on a monthly basis. However, it has been bolstered recently due to the news about Japan potentially dumping mildly radioactive water from the Fukushima-1 NPP. For instance, in August, 1,272 tests of fish products for main radiological markers were conducted. Also in August, fish products from the Murmansk, Magadan and Khabarovsk regions, as well as from China’s Shandong province, were studied.
Thus, the Rosselkhoznadzor specialists study the entire line of fish products, including cod, flounder, pollock, halibut, as well as salmon, minced fish, canned goods, crab, shellfish and other types of seafood products. The agency stressed that it increased radiation monitoring of living marine resources caught in Russia’s territorial waters in the immediate vicinity of the discharge site. "This concerns the entire responsibility zone of the Primorye Region interregional directorate of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision, which includes the Primorye and Sakhalin regions, Kamchatka and Chukotka," the agency’s statement noted.
Fukushima-1 NPP water dump
Earlier, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported that Japanese specialists began ocean dumping of the first batch of water, purified from radioactive elements, from the Fukushima-1 NPP. Data from measurements conducted revealed that purified water prepared for ocean discharge had been sufficiently diluted with seawater.
Following this, China’s General Administration of Customs announced that, beginning on August 24, it was completely suspending imports of seafood originating in Japan, emphasizing its concern over the water dump.