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No tritium found in fish one month after Fukushima water release

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Predictable and expected news.

But no amount of testing will satisfy the non-science mob. They'll keep following the political outrage.

26 ( +36 / -10 )

No tritium found in fish one month after Fukushima water release

Did another radionuclide subject for checking?

-22 ( +8 / -30 )

What a surprise! Or not if you have a modicum of scientific understanding.

Not that I think it will change the fixed ideas of those opposed as logic will never affect an irrational belief.

14 ( +23 / -9 )

Disappointing for some. Not surprising for people with a degree in STEM.

10 ( +19 / -9 )

Japanese government officials...... hell they could say the sky is falling and they would expect the world to believe it!

-15 ( +8 / -23 )

who trust Japanese Gov????

-16 ( +11 / -27 )

Yes, I trust JP government, economy is booming, people making $$$, Fukushima water no problem, no tritium found soon you will be able to drink it straight from the containers they keep it in.

Stay safe guys.

-2 ( +16 / -18 )

Not surprising for people with a degree in STEM.

One doesn't need a science degree to know things are safe with the seafood.

Just follow the science.

7 ( +17 / -10 )

I’d like to know what they did find. The full report on the samples and the various chemicals and plastics. Usualy when things are so specific then there was some reason.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Excellent, let the haters bark, LOL !!..

-6 ( +7 / -13 )

I’d like to know what they did find. The full report on the samples

Here you go, and also for the future, a handy website that lists and links all the institutions that take samples and their reports:

https://www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuclear/hairo_osensui/english/shirou_alps/monitoring/

and the various chemicals and plastics.

They test the water for those prior to the release.

Usualy when things are so specific then there was some reason.

Correct. The reason for testing for tritium is that some people are hysterical about tritium.

Did another radionuclide subject for checking?

They test the water for those prior to the release.

6 ( +12 / -6 )

Chinese govt allows fishing boats and ships to go to the fishery near around Japan. All fish are banned from Japan but it is okay if all fish are brought by Chinses boats/ships from there. What a joke!

14 ( +17 / -3 )

Zero suprises to anyone with a high-school education in chemistry and physics.

They never will detect any because the amounts being released are extremely low.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

Still surprising they make an effort to publicize the results, for people that understand the topic it was obvious from the beginning this was going to be the result, and for those that will not accept any amount of evidence their personal beliefs are not going to change.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

But did they look in folks' stomachs? What did they find? Joking aside, the preliminary tests are reassuring, but it's still early days. More seriously, the outfished seas and oceans of the world will become a man-made ecological disaster unless we change our ways with humanity's rapacious exploitation of the planet's natural resources.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Bioaccumulation.....

-12 ( +4 / -16 )

Bioaccumulation.....

... does not happen with tritium.

9 ( +15 / -6 )

Never underestimate the perseverance and confidence of scientifically ignorant people.

5 ( +11 / -6 )

We are eating fish.

3 ( +12 / -9 )

In light of this unsurprising news, I wonder if the nuisance calls from China will start again?

1 ( +7 / -6 )

We are eating fish.

I'm eating fish from Norway every day too.

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

The reason for the dumping of wastewater is to start the decommissioning.

Currently we have no plan plan for that decommissioning, or schedule, or a how-to.

The sad reality is that TEPCO just pretends to be working.

-18 ( +3 / -21 )

Currently we have no plan plan for that decommissioning, or schedule, or a how-to.

That is incorrect.

https://www.tepco.co.jp/en/hd/decommission/project/roadmap/index-e.html

https://www.meti.go.jp/english/earthquake/nuclear/decommissioning/

https://www.mofa.go.jp/dns/inec/page18e_000038.html

The sad reality is that TEPCO just pretends to be working.

The insight you have into TEPCO's inner workings is amazing.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

Wonderful!

How about Strontium 90?

Caesium 134? Caesium 137?

Iodine 129?

Cobalt 60?

It seems some lobbies want you to think all that stuff disappeared or was filtered out because they said so. They want you to think its just about tritium now.

Well it damn well isn't!

-11 ( +7 / -18 )

So the scientists who dedicate countless hours of their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and human advancement knew what they were talking about all along? No way. Next you'll tell me that the vaccines they develop and promote are also safe. lol

2 ( +9 / -7 )

I'm eating fish from Norway every day too.

This is also a bad idea.

One is right to be concerned about Japanese fish, because if fish caught off Fukushima is landed in Tokyo, its not marked as coming from Fukushima.

But Norwegian export fish is most farmed and has been branded as the most toxic fish in the world for their horrific practices. Plus, no omega-3 because it never ate the plankton necessary to get it. Better or worse than nuclear wastewater fish I can't say.

But you want wild fish. As for what I see in my market, and knowing the red salmon is the wild stuff (assuming it has not been dyed, which happens) the Chilean and Russian salmon is what you want. Other fish I can't say.

-11 ( +3 / -14 )

lunatic

The reason for the dumping of wastewater is to start the decommissioning.

> Currently we have no plan plan for that decommissioning, or schedule, or a how-to.

> The sad reality is that TEPCO just pretends to be working.

TEPCO has been decommissioning since 2011.

Major points.

Debris was removed from the site.

The site was covered in thick steel plates reducing the radiation levels and allowing workers to wear less restrictive clothing.

Spent fuel removed from No4 reactor pool.

A cover was installed over the No3 reactor and spent fuel was removed.

Reduced the amount of groundwater entering the reactor basements.

Built an ice wall around the reactor buildings.

Installed a cleaning system for the wastewater.

The decommissioning will take more than 50 years.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Wonderful! How about Strontium 90? (etc. pp.)

Those weren't in the waste water in any meaningful quantities to begin with. The ALPS process did its job: All radionuclides other than tritium combined account for just about 20 Bq/L in the undiluted waste water, that is around 0.013%. The overwhelming amount of radioactivity, 99.987%, comes from tritium in the form of weak beta radiation.

It seems some lobbies want you to think all that stuff disappeared

"Disappeared"? Who said that, ever?

or was filtered out because they said so.

And they said so because the water tested so.

They want you to think its just about tritium now.

Because, for all intents and purposes, it really is just about tritium.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Japan is Norway's largest and most important mackerel market. Calculations show that around 140,000 tonnes of Norwegian mackerel were exported to Japan in 2022.

The United States is the third largest seafood supplier to Japan, specializing in salmon, cod, pollock, herring, crab, and lobster.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

How about Strontium 90?

Caesium 134? Caesium 137?

Iodine 129?

Cobalt 60?

If ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) can't filter those radioactive substances out, IAEA will never let Japan discharging into ocean whatever.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Of course not. It is way beyond the detection level. None of the vocal complainers seems to understand the concept of dilution.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Sanjinosebleed

Bioaccumulation.....

Not with Tritium. Just because a word sounds scary, it does not mean it applies.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Keepyer Internetpoints

Wonderful!

How about Strontium 90?

Caesium 134? Caesium 137?

Iodine 129?

Cobalt 60?

Removed with the ALPS system. The whole noise has only been about the remaining Tritium, you are unaware of that?

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Original statement becomes...

No detectable amount of tritium has been found

...becomes...

No tritium found

Japanese are good at playing with words.

So, how much tritium did they found, and how do that compare to the levels before the release?

-11 ( +4 / -15 )

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0265931X12001890

Yup. They raised phytoplankton in tritiated water concentrated at ten megabecquerel per liter over its whole lifetime, and wonder of wonders they found that trace amounts were bound in organic tissue -- which then takes a bit longer to be ejected from the body, roughly 500 days give or take.

That is not nothing, and you are correct to call me out on stating "does not happen" as an absolute. I should have said: "It does not happen at any meaningful level." (But then someone will inevitably yell at my interpretation of "meaningful".)

The answer is in the normative power of the de facto: Tritium is a naturally occuring isotope, and the oceans already contain much more tritium than we add. If tritium accumulation happened at an even remotely meaningful level, it would have been a problem since time immemorial, and then the reason why we would not have died is because we would never have been born in the first place.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

So, how much tritium did they found

Well, less than they can detect.

and how do that compare to the levels before the release?

Well, if it was less than they can detect before, and less than they can detect after ... what would you make of that?

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Cesium and strontium are also measured.

Instead of asking, Google it. All the results are below, also available on the Fukushima Prefecture site.

https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/housyanou/kekka.html#a3

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Well, let's really handle it scientifically, by making it even more confusing with the simple fact that measurement instruments usually have an analog or digital scale with maximum AND minimum detectable values. That means , if nothing is detected here then the correct scientific interpretation is, that the real value is either below the minimum or above the maximum of that specifically used device for measurement. For example you could hold an average Geiger counter directly into the meltdown place and it would of course immediately become defective internally and detect or display no radiation at all, because it is just not made or intended for such an extreme measurement situation. So , back to the fish, there's a very high probability that the Tritium values are too low to detect and a very low probability of being above the maximum scale value of the device used for measurements.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

So while I do think Japan engages in a lot of hollow and also rather hypocritical virtue signaling on environmental issues, there is no doubt in my mind that they won the propaganda battle against China on this one.

Rather than people believing China's response is due to controls on tech exports, people see it as a spiteful tantrum fueled by phony environmentalism.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

So the scientists who dedicate countless hours of their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and human advancement

Its simpy amazing that some cannot realize that some scientiests are only in it for the money and sell their services to highest bidder...and those services may include hiding, fudging, over-emphasizing, and destroyiing data.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Why do they not now test some fish caught off the coast of China? I have a feeling they would be more than surprised if they did. And do not forget, China has been dumping nuclear waste water from its nine nuclear plants for many years. But hey, we do not want to upset Mr Xi do we?

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Simply amazing.

I ask about radioactive contaminants that might be in the fish, I get protestations that the nuclear wastewater only contains tritium. It was the fish that was tested. (see headline)

But lobbies want you to only remember the tritium. And it worked.

Hint: They filtered water, not fish.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Not toofast too early more test are needed and other radioactive materials plus the need to check sea weed too not just samples of random fishes

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

I ask about radioactive contaminants that might be in the fish, I get protestations that the nuclear wastewater only contains tritium.

How would "radioactive contaminants" (other than tritium) get into the fish if there are basically none in the waste water? They only test for tritium in the fish because it's the only radioisotope the waste water contains in meaningful amounts. I'm not entirely sure what's so complicated about all of that.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

The water had been used to cool melted nuclear fuel at the plant but has undergone a treatment process that removes most radionuclides except tritium.

So they were unable to remove all radionuclides. And contaminated water is being produced by Fukushima every singe minute today and tomorrow.

The treatment according to TEPCO does not remove all radionuclides. They do not know the impact of this contaminated water on the oceans.

The IAEA is not a specialist in this field, is it?

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

TEPCO has been breeding fish in the waste water for a couple of years.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

wolfshine

Rather than people believing China's response is due to controls on tech exports, people see it as a spiteful tantrum fueled by phony environmentalism.

Fuelled by politics, I say. The CCP loves to whip up anti-Japan emotions to distract from domestic issues. In this particular case, it might have backfired a little, as some people started checking the routine Chinese releases of tritium into the ocean, which are way higher than anything at Fukushima.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

That's good to know isnt it.

Just past the plant on a ship on my way to Hokkaido,lol

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

@Keepyer Internetpoints: Chilean and Russian salmon? That's one of the dumbest things I've ever read about salmon. Try some wild-caught from Alaska or British Columbia. I fish for them. I eat them. Never, ever would I buy one from Chile or Russia. Or a fish farm for that matter. But, go ahead and pick what you want to eat. It's your life.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

RoyToday  09:25 am JST

Bioaccumulation.....

... does not happen with tritium

Yes it does! Totally verifiable with a an online search!

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

So they were unable to remove all radionuclides.

That is correct. Can you guess the one they can't remove? (It's very obscure and barely mentioned anywhere, but I will give you a hint: It starts with "t" and ends with "ritium".)

5 ( +6 / -1 )

It's slightly funny how so many are falling over themselves to defend Japan's water release, as if their lives depend on it.

Not only posters on here, but that idiot that used to be the mayor of Chicago.

As if Japan would behave any differently to China if the roles were reversed.

Japan's pride is hurt, I get that. For years, they've put themselves on a self made pedestal of 'we are so clean compared to everywhere, China is dirty, blah blah blah', yet are now facing accusations that they're in fact the polluters and dirty ones.

Oh Japan

I had some wonderful sushi last night, and will continue to do so, but no tritium? None at all

Haha. Yeah right

-13 ( +1 / -14 )

No tritium found in fish one month after Fukushima water release

As expected. The scaremongers (mostly pro-China shills) were wrong, and will continue to be wrong.

indigoToday 07:31 am JST

who trust Japanese Gov????

If you don't trust them, there's the IAEA's independent monitoring. And if you don't trust the IAEA, you probably won't trust anyone so there's no sense in trying to convince you.

The rest of us will just get on with our lives here in the real world.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@Reginald Bok

so much anger... but off you go

So yeah, Japan is realeasing nuclear waste water. Tritium is hazzarous to all living forms and is a human made product!!!

Also, the Earth is flat, secret societies are controlling us, god exist, Iesus Nazarenus commeth and aliens built the piramids with technolgoy from Nibiru!!!

And China is the greatest, cleanest, fairest and wealthiest contry in the World.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Yes it does! Totally verifiable with a an online search!

A reference would be much better, the only report I can find is an experimental design where it was necessary to expose plancton to water with a concentration of 10 MBq/100mL (that would be 100 million becquerels per liter in order for tritium) for it to be converted in organic bound tritium (the kind that can accumulate).

It would not be valid to extrapolate these results for the discharge when the concentration is half a million times less.

It's slightly funny how so many are falling over themselves to defend Japan's water release, as if their lives depend on it.

Correcting false or misleading information is not "falling over to defend Japan's water release" if you have concrete, validated, scientific information that can be used to criticize the release that is perfectly fine.

But if you can only offer things that can be demonstrated as false then the problem is with the information itself.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@Daniel Neagari

You're absolutely hilarious....

So wacky

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Japan should invite a CCP scientist to come and do some checks too

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Japan should invite a CCP scientist to come and do some checks too

They did. China refused (for obvious reasons).

3 ( +5 / -2 )

process that removes most radionuclides except tritium.

mad opposed to ..

process that removes all radionuclides except tritium.

The article says most…

Can you guess the one they can't remove? 

Can you guess the difference in meaning in English? English is not my native tongue. Are they the same in meaning?

I believe you are saying all but the article does not say all. It says most.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

I believe you are saying all but the article does not say all. It says most.

Firstly, this is a news article and it should be treated as such. A third party's wording is not a good grounds to make judgements on technical details.

Secondly, yes, technically the water still contains traces of other radionuclides ... but so does everything else on earth, including you yourself. For all other radioisotopes than tritium, the waste water would pass tap water regulations. To all intent and purpose, they have been removed.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Doesn't really matter even if they find tritium, it's the least dangerous radionuclide present.

It's the other radionuclides that are of concern.

Who vouches that those have been removed this time?

Still iaea?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Lots of gullible people in here.

And ironically it's because they do understand a little science.

Don't be distracted by the tritium.

Look at the more dangerous radionuclides.

Find out if there's actual evidence that the radionuclides were removed and if they are reliable.

Don't just blindly believe tepco and the govts press releases.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

It's the other radionuclides that are of concern.

Then you will be relieved that they are, again, only contained in negligible amounts. Only four isotopes even pass the detection limit, at miniscule levels.

Who vouches that those have been removed this time?

The JAEA.

Find out if there's actual evidence that the radionuclides were removed

Here's their latest lab results (just about a week old now):

https://www.tepco.co.jp/decommission/data/analysis/pdf_csv/2023/3q/measurement_confirmation_230921-j.pdf

https://fukushima.jaea.go.jp/okuma/alps/dai3/pdf/analysis-result_details-20230626.pdf

4 ( +4 / -0 )

@fxgaiToday

Japan should invite a CCP scientist to come and do some checks too

Take it all the way. Checks on live TV!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Contaminated water dumped from Fukushima containing many kinds of radioactivity such as Strontium or Cadmium or Plutonium other than tritium, Japan don't at all consider even long term bioconcentration risk.

But deceptive Japan's officials emphasizes only information about tritium to pretend "safe".

https://foejapan.org/en/issue/20230820/13971/

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Contaminated water dumped from Fukushima containing many kinds of radioactivity such as Strontium or Cadmium or Plutonium

Not really, no.

https://foejapan.org/en/issue/20230820/13971/

A hysterical collection of specious bad-faith arguments, half-truths, misrepresentations and outright lies.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Hideomi Kuze

https://foejapan.org/en/issue/20230820/13971/

Err... your source is an activist NGO, with the mission to "create a system to solve environmental and social issues by challenging the existing system."

I am all for listening to what they have to say, but I would not exactly take their claims at face value.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Obviously not and why would it be there! It is only the conspiracy theorists, CCP, and the paranoid who think it should be there!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Obviously not and why would it be there! It is only the conspiracy theorists, CCP, and the paranoid who think it should be there!

It doesn't really matter what people think. There are a lot of idiots out there. What matters is if it is there or not. Is there anything to show it's there?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I miss the Fukushima summer peaches. They are almost all gone now. Looking forward to the Fall fish from there.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Japan's government or TEPCO or mainstream media effort to distract people eyes from that Fukushima radiation water contain many radioactive materials besides tritium despite after "ALPS" treated.

Japan is dumping it into ocean.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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