It has been 14 years since the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred due to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Since the accident, global attention has focused on the radioactive contaminated water released from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. After the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company started releasing the contaminated water into the sea in August 2023, opposition parties and civic groups in the country criticized that the contaminated water would flow into the waters near the Korean Peninsula, leading to a major disaster. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "The release of the Fukushima contaminated water will be recorded as the second Pacific War."
Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that it will begin the 11th release of Fukushima contaminated water from the 12th over the next 17 days. However, there has been no criticism from the opposition parties ahead of this release. There have been 10 releases of contaminated water over the past year and a half, and there were no problems. During that time, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) has published reports, none of which mentioned any issues with the sea or seafood.
Jung Beom-jin, a professor at Kyunghee University’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, said on the 11th, "When the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred in 2011, contaminated water was released without any treatment, but from August 24, 2023, the release of diluted contaminated water below the discharge standards began. There were no problems when untreated contaminated water was released, so there should be no scientific or common sense issue with discharging treated water."
◇ The unsuitable rate of imported foods is higher for China
ChosunBiz collected various radiation safety information released by government ministries, including the Nuclear Safety And Security Commission, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. It analyzed whether any problems occurred since the release of Fukushima contaminated water began on August 24, 2023.
KINS has created and published monitoring reports at the end of each release since the first release of Fukushima contaminated water began on August 24, 2023. The 10 reports made public so far have all reached the same conclusion without any differences in wording. They concluded that there were no problems.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is conducting radiation tests on seafood distributed domestically. The test items include solar salt, mackerel, seaweed, flatfish, anchovies, hairtail, oysters, yellowfin tuna, blue crabs, and squid. Since August 24, 2023, a total of more than 28,000 radiation tests have been conducted on domestically distributed seafood. Among them, the number of unsuitable cases was zero (0).
The results of radiation tests conducted in domestic seas and beaches are also the same. There have been no issues with radioactive isotopes such as cesium and tritium. The monitoring data from radiation monitoring stations operating in 238 locations nationwide, from Marado at the southernmost tip of the country, have not deviated from "normal."
What about food imported from Japan? The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety publishes the results of radiation tests on food every day. Since August 24, 2023, a total of 55,231 radiation tests have been conducted on food imported from Japan. Of these, 55,198 were found to be suitable, while 33 were deemed unsuitable. Although there may be concerns about the importation of food contaminated with radiation from Japan, the unsuitable rate is very low at 0.059%.
Rather, the unsuitable rate for food imported from other countries was higher. During the same period, the unsuitable rate for radiation tests on food imported from China was 1.114%, from Russia was 0.535%, from the United States was 0.583%, and from Italy was 2.586%. Considering the overwhelmingly high number of tests conducted on Japanese products, they are relatively safer.
There have been no issues with ballast water either. Ships take on seawater as ballast to maintain balance when departing ports empty. Vice Minister Song Myung-dal said, "As of now, all radiation tests on ballast water from 457 vessels that have arrived from places such as Chiba Prefecture in Japan since January 2023 have been suitable."
◇ There are no issues with tritium in waters near Fukushima
The results of radiation tests on contaminated water being conducted in Japanese waters are similar. The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company are measuring the concentrations of tritium contained in seawater at ten points within 3 kilometers of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and four points within 10 kilometers. The concentration of tritium at which a decision to stop release is made is 350 Bq (becquerel, a radiation unit) per liter within 3 kilometers and 20 Bq within 10 kilometers.
In the 10th release conducted last October, the concentration of tritium in seawater within 3 kilometers did not exceed 50 Bq per liter. There was no significant difference compared to before the release of contaminated water. No tritium was detected at all within 10 kilometers.
Experts say that this is a natural outcome. Professor Jung Beom-jin noted, "Japan is carefully diluting the contaminated water it releases into its own waters to avoid harm to its citizens, so the concentration cannot suddenly increase when it comes to our country. Those who incited concern about the problems with the release of Fukushima contaminated water should apologize now."
The government plans to conduct monitoring activities locally in response to the 11th release of contaminated water. Kim Jong-mun, the First Deputy of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said, "We dispatched experts from KINS to Fukushima to directly confirm the status of the release facilities with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," and noted, "Experts from Korea, China, Switzerland, and France are also collecting and analyzing samples of the contaminated water targeted for the 12th release."