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China's water, seafood unaffected by radiation leak

Published: 2011-03-22    Views:1402 reads

Chinese waters have not been affected by Japan's nuclear radiation leak, and the nation's seafood is safe to eat, China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) assured the public on March 19 after days of detection and monitoring.

The administration launched comprehensive emergency radioactivity monitoring of the marine environment upon hearing the news of the explosion and radiation leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Days of monitoring showed that the atmospheric radiation dose rate in Chinese waters is within the normal range.

According to the three-dimensional ocean current numerical forecast, the radioactive contaminants from the earthquake-damaged nuclear plant will mainly drift southwards in the next three days, and the vast majority of radiation will be confined to the waters around Fukushima.

For some time to come, the contaminants may reach the waters northeast of Tokyo, and then drift eastwards into the Pacific Ocean under the influence of the Kuroshio Current. Overall, the radiation leak will not affect China in the short term.

A relevant SOA official said that the seafood from Chinese waters has not been affected and is safe to eat. Furthermore, the radiation levels in China remain normal according to the radiation monitoring results from the National Nuclear Safety Administration under the Ministry of Environmental Protection radiation leak.