Taiwan to monitor seafood before acting on Japan’s radioactive water release

台灣在對日本排放放射性廢水採取行動之前先監測海鮮

Taiwan continues to detect traces of tritium, an isotope of concern amid the water release plan


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The food and drug regulator in Taiwan said on Wednesday (Aug. 23) it will keep tabs on seafood products from Japan before taking any action to address its discharge of radioactive wastewater.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) which runs the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will start releasing the treated wastewater from Thursday (Aug. 24). Japan said the move was necessary for the plant to be decommissioned despite a backlash from local fishery groups and neighboring countries.

Taiwan has been monitoring the levels of tritium in seafood imported from Japan since last year, having tested 52 samples including Japanese mackerel, Pacific saury, eels, oysters, scallops, salmon, octopus, and seaweed. All were below the minimum detectable activity (MDA), CNA quoted the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration official (鄭維智) as saying.

Tritium is a radionuclide hard to remove from wastewater and therefore has caused health concerns. TEPCO uses the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) that can reduce 60 radioactive isotopes to levels that the company says are safe for human consumption in small amounts, per AP.

The FDA will test 100 samples of aquatic goods from Japan in both 2023 and 2024. It will compare the results before and after the water is discharged to see if there are any irregularities and initiate measures accordingly.

FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) admitted there are currently no international standards for tritium in foods, so the best the country can do now is to keep monitoring the risk.

Hong Kong and Macau have imposed bans on products from ten Japanese prefectures in response. China has also ramped up radiation testing on fisheries products from Japan.