Due to the radioactive material exceeding the standard, the Japanese government announced a ban on the marketing of black squid in the waters of Fukushima Prefecture, the first time in 14 months that a similar restriction was imposed.
On the same day, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that it would submit a schedule for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant starting next month. The mayor of Nanae Town, Fukushima Prefecture, has asked TEPCO to compensate for the damage caused to the local area by discharging nuclearly contaminated water.
U.N. human rights experts previously issued a joint statement expressing "deep regret" over Japan's decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, noting that the move could affect millions of people in the Pacific.
According to NHK TV on April 19, Fukushima prefectural authorities found that radioactive cesium exceeded the radioactive cesium in locally caught black squid in a test last week.
The excess black squid was caught on 1 April at a depth of 37 metres near Minami Soma City. A radioactive substance of cesium of 270 becquerel/kg has been found in black squid, and Japan limits cesium content in food to 100 becquerel/kg.
On Monday, the Japanese government announced a ban on the listing of black sturgeon in the waters off Fukushima Prefecture.
At one point in February, authorities found cesium exceeding the standard in black sturgeon in Fukushima. As no similar conditions have been found in subsequent tests, the government has not imposed restrictions. But local fishermen took the initiative to stop catching black squid.
After the Fukushima Daiichi accident, dozens of seafood products in Japan were restricted from being on the market, but the restrictions were completely lifted from February last year.
On the same day that the blackfish was banned from listing, Tokyo Electric Power Company said it would submit a schedule of nuclear contaminated water discharges from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to Japan's Atomic Power Regulatory Commission starting next month.
According to Xinhua News Agency, before the start of discharge, TEPCO needs to apply to the Japan Atomic Power Regulatory Commission to review the implementation plan for discharging nuclear contaminated water, including the design of equipment for diluting the concentration of tritium of radioactive materials in seawater, the confirmation of equipment performance, and the discharge procedures of nuclear contaminated water. After the plan was approved, TEPCO began to build equipment and strengthen the monitoring of radioactive materials in the oceans.
Last week, the Japanese government officially decided to release into the sea 1.25 million tons of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after being filtered and diluted, and the discharge will begin two years later.
On Sunday, officials from Japan's departments of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism held an explanatory meeting in Iwajo, Fukushima Prefecture, to explain the decision to discharge nuclearly contaminated water to local fukushima companies and organizations.
At the meeting, representatives and officials of Fukushima's hotel industry, fishing and other industries protested the Japanese government's decision, accusing it of seriously damaging Fukushima's reputation. A local fisheries official said Fukushima was still suffering from a crisis of reputation over the Daiichi accident, and that the decision to discharge contaminated water into the sea was tantamount to "pouring salt on the wound."
Some local officials have also questioned TEPCO's credibility in dealing with nuclearly contaminated water, pointing out that the company has been repeatedly caught up in counterfeiting scandals.
In 2002, Tepco was accused of tampering with and falsifying nuclear power plant safety records, and senior executives, including the chairman and president, announced their resignation. In 2007, the company admitted in its investigation report that, beginning in 1977, it had tampered with data and concealed safety hazards during 199 regular inspections of 13 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and the Kashiwazaki Kaleyu Nuclear Power Plant.
On Monday, The mayor of Nanae Town, Fukushima Prefecture, Shuhiro Yoshida, demanded that TEPCO compensate The town of Nanae for the reputational damage caused by the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water. The town of Nanae was once classified as a no-entry zone due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.
Yoshida accused Tepco of refusing to reach an out-of-court settlement six times in the previous legal dispute between Namie-cho and TEPCO.
In addition to the dissatisfaction of the people of Fukushima, Japan's decision to discharge nuclear pollution into the sea has also caused protests from its Asian neighbors. On Monday, more than 150 fishing boats marched in yeosu, South Jeolla Province, South Korea, to oppose Japan's sewage into the sea.
In order to weaken the opposition from the outside world, Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Sangsei said on the same day that South Korean experts could join the UN Atomic Energy Agency's monitoring team in Japan's plan to discharge sewage into the sea. However, the matter also needs to be discussed with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the South Korean government.
On the same day, South Korean Foreign Minister Jeong Eui-yong, when questioned by Parliament, said there was no need for South Korea to insist on opposing it if Japan could discharge nuclear sewage into the sea in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency standards.
In exchange, Mr. Chung said, Japan should accept South Korea's three requests, including proposing sufficient scientific evidence and sharing relevant information; having full discussions with the RoK in advance; and ensuring that South Korean experts or research institute representatives participate in the IAEA verification process.
Last week, three U.N. human rights experts issued a joint statement warning that the Japanese government's efforts to dump nuclear sewage into the sea would affect millions of people in the Pacific.
In particular, the statement noted that previous practice has proved that the "Multinuclide Removal Equipment" (ALPS) technology used at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cannot completely eliminate radioactive tritium and carbon-14 in nuclear wastewater.
Experts also believe that Japan underestimated the radioactive hazards of tritium, and its threat to humans and the environment could last for 100 years.