Since Thursday, heavily filtered and diluted cooling water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant off the coast of Japan has been discharged into the sea. The decision had sparked protests in Japan and neighboring countries, prompting China to ban seafood imports from Japan. Warnings from the Chinese authorities have also sparked mass hysteria in the country. Shops are mainly stormed by table salt.
Images on social media show customers loading kilos of salt into their shopping cart or fighting over the last available pack. In many places you will only find empty shelves.
Japan: tritium concentration below detection limit
Both the Japanese authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emphasize that the discharge of the treated cooling water does not lead to any harmful pollution of the sea. As Japan’s environment ministry announced on Sunday, water samples were taken and tested at 11 locations around the plant. The tests showed that the concentration of the radioactive isotope tritium was below the lower detection limit: seven to eight becquerels of tritium per liter.
But the Chinese government does not believe this and warns the population about the polluted cooling water. According to the renowned Tsinghua University in Beijing, the polluted water takes about 240 days to reach the Chinese coast. The radiant tritium is already present in fish and seafood imported to China. For this reason, all fish and seafood imports from Japan have been suspended until further notice.
Anti-Japanese propaganda
The fact that the tritium content in the water is extremely low and that the discharge of cooling water into seawater is also common in other countries is not mentioned in the Chinese news. The reporting can therefore also be seen as anti-Japanese propaganda. Apparently this works too.
On the one hand, large parts of the Chinese population are afraid that salt extracted from the sea may soon be radioactive. Also, many people believe that iodized salt protects against radiation sickness. Already in 2011, when three of the six reactors in Fukushima melted after an earthquake and a tsunami, large-scale purchases of salt were made in China.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
