China: no abnormality in Fukushima wastewater

Chinese authorities said they found no irregularities in the activity concentration of hazardous elements such as tritium and caesium-134 in seawater and marine life samples they had independently collected from waters near the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The samples were collected in late February under the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Despite the positive test results, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that future samples could give a different verdict and reiterated the opposition of his country to Japan’s discharge of contaminated water in the sea from the crippled nuclear facility. Lin urged Japan to “fulfil its commitments and ensure that the ocean discharge is under international supervision.” He added that during the sixth China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue held in Tokyo in March, the Japanese government said it would accept long-term international monitoring of its discharge of nuclear-contaminated water and China’s independent sampling and monitoring.
The Fukushima nuclear plant suffered a triple-core meltdown in 2011 after being hit by an earthquake and a tsunami. A large amount of water was used to cool the reactors, contaminating it with radioactive substances. Although special treatment can reduce the concentration of these substances in the water, it cannot eliminate them completely. For many years, contaminated water was stored in tanks, but in August 2023, Japan started to discharge it into the Pacific Ocean after the approval of the IAEA. There were several protests, and China introduced a complete ban on the import of seafood from Japan. In September 2024, the two countries agreed to gradually resume seafood imports if China could participate in monitoring activities around Fukushima.