After the release of water from Fukushima, no tritium was found in the water – Kommersant

At the moment, no hazardous products have been identified after the release of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Russia, but this process has just begun and there will be an accumulation effect, said the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova.

“No changes in the content of radioactive substances in water, including tritium, have been detected, but, unfortunately, there is an accumulation effect. But accumulation in both bottom sediments and hydrobionts cannot but occur, because the quantity and volume will increase,” Ms. Popova said in an interview “RIA News”. The official also warned that in the future tritium may appear in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation (for example, in places where Russian ships catch fish and seafood), in this regard, Rospotrebnadzor will carefully monitor the situation.

Previously, former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on environmental issues Sergei Ivanov statedthat the risks of increasing tritium levels in Russian waters after the start of water discharge from the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant theoretically exist, but so far there are no such signs.

The accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant occurred in 2011. The water used to cool the reactors was stored in tanks after purification. On August 24, 2023, the Japanese company Tokyo Electric Power began discharging water purified from radioactive substances from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The decision was approved by the IAEA, but it still caused protests in Japan, including in the fishing industry. China opposed the release of water. Beijing banned import of Japanese fish and seafood.

Read more in the Kommersant article “Everything that had accumulated was poured onto Japan”.

Alexander Kislov