JAPAN: U.S. marine scientist says he suspects high radiation levels detected in bottom-dwelling fish caught off Fukushima prefecture indicate continued radiation leaking from the Daiichi nuclear plant

Record ID: 215986

  • Title: JAPAN: U.S. marine scientist says he suspects high radiation levels detected in bottom-dwelling fish caught off Fukushima prefecture indicate continued radiation leaking from the Daiichi nuclear plant
  • Date: 19th November 2012
  • Summary: AT SEA NEAR HISANOHAMA, FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 19, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN PULLING IN FISH IN NET FISHERMAN REMOVING FISH FROM NET FISHERMEN PUTTING FISH IN BARREL 52-YEAR-OLD CAPTAIN OF THE "LUCKY TREASURE NO.3" KOZO ENDO LOOKING OUT OF WINDOW ON BOAT ENDO WATCHING FISHERMEN PULLING IN NET MORE OF FISHERMEN PULLING IN NET FISHERMEN REMOVING FI
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters,Environment,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVADW4SQTYOA8CB51OJWKBYP8N0S
  • Story Text: The fish that Kozo Endo and his crew manage to catch on Monday (November 19) are headed not for market -- but to a nearby laboratory.
    That is because they are caught from waters off the coast of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where most fishing is banned.

    "We can't sell any of these, it's such a waste. We can only catch them for radiation sampling. Those that are left over, well, all of us working on the boat take them home to eat. If we can't do that, how can we expect other people to?" Endo said.
    This has been the case since Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) suspended operations at local fisheries 20 months ago, after last year's tsunami and earthquake triggered a meltdown at the Daiichi plant, spewing radiation into the sea.
    While many fish in the area are swimming clear of the country's limits on radiation, a figure of 100 Bequerels per kilogram of Caesium-137 and Caesium-134, fish that live near the sea-floor like cod, halibut or sole are still topping the bar.
    MAFF figures show one in ten bottom-dwelling fish sampled off the coast of Fukushima in October were still over the limit.
    Marine chemist from the U.S.-based Woods Hole Institute, Ken Buesseler said that should not be the case, a year and a half after the meltdown.

    "It's a salt, caesium -- like potassium. So very quickly if you shut off the source, they should be going down a few percent a day. In two or three months it would be practically all gone, and we don't see that in the fish they're sampling throughout 2012," Buesseler said on a trip to Tokyo.
    A respected geochemist known for his studies of radioactive fallout in the Black Sea after Chernobyl, Buesseler hit the headlines last month when he suggested that high levels of caesium in Fukushima fish could be due to radiation still leaking from the Daiichi facility, which Tepco has denied.

    "There has to be a source. And they're cooling those reactors quite extensively, some of that water's getting back into the ocean, either actively being pumped out after some decontamination or through leaks in the buildings, they're not able to contain all of the water that they use to cool," Buesseler said.
    However, the Japanese ministry responsible for radiation sampling across Japan said they are excluding that possibility from their inquiries at the moment.

    "We believe there is nothing leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Of course we can't comment conclusively without checking with Tepco, but at this point we have not been told of anything new going into the sea. So on that basis we are not really operating on the theory that there is any new source of radiation," said Koichi Tahara, assistant director of research at Japan's fisheries agency.
    Experts from Japan's MAFF say caesium in bottom-dwelling fish is now on a downward trend, indicating radiation is gradually leaving the food chain.
    They said 40 percent of bottom-dwelling fish sampled from March 2011 to 2012 were above the limit.
    That figure dropped to 10 percent of samples this October.
    Tahara said be believed the caesium that remains is making its way through the food cycle.

    "We think the caesium is gradually absorbed into the seabed, and once it's absorbed it becomes more difficult for it to enter back into living organisms. So it's going in that direction, into the seabed, but not all at once. It's only absorbed a little bit at a time, so there is still some caesium that's going around in the food cycle," he added.
    Plant operator Tepco denies any radiation is still leaking from the Daiichi facility.
    From their own sampling of the nearby seas, they said there is little evidence of high radiation in either the seabed or food cycle.

    "We're doing surveys of the seabed and looking at the things fish eat, you know small organisms like shrimp, but so far we have not found very high levels in either. So at the present time we are not in a position to clearly understand why there is still radiation being found in fish off Fukushima. But of course we want to carry on with our surveys going forward," Tepco spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi said.
    While authorities survey the seas off Fukushima, fishermen like Endo are left to trawl for answers, without work.
    Most days he makes just enough to live on, helping clear the area of debris left after last year's tsunami.
    Once a week he goes looking for radioactive fish, but Japan's fishing agency only covers his fuel costs. That cash he divides among his crew -- throwing in a fish or two for good luck.
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