The Environment Ministry and officials in Fukushima Prefecture said Sunday that separate tests of seawater near the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had not found detectable levels of the radioactive isotope tritium, days after the country began discharging treated water into the Pacific Ocean.
The country began releasing treated water that had been used to cool nuclear reactors on Thursday, a move heavily criticized by China, which a day later imposed a blanket ban on seafood imports from Japan, alleging that the discharge puts “the world at risk of nuclear contamination.”
The Environment Ministry determined that samples taken Friday morning at all 11 points surveyed within roughly 40 kilometers of the plant were below its lower limit of detection — 7 to 8 becquerels (Bq) per liter — and “would have no adverse impact on human health and the environment,” it announced Sunday, adding that it would publish test results weekly.