Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Worsens; Citizens Demand Expanded Random Testing of Imported Food, Government Refuses

General News Jan 1, 1970By Emily Carter 0 views

Today, radiation levels at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant exceeded standards, and the problem is growing more serious by the day. The South Korean government announced today that, because its citizens are extremely worried about the contaminated water leak at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, it will completely ban the import of aquatic products from Fukushima and 8 surrounding prefectures and cities. The Homemakers United Foundation also held a press conference today, raising three major demands to the government: increase the random inspection rate for radiation levels in imported food; update food radiation test reports daily; and publish the test data and product information for imported food found to contain radiation. But the relevant government agencies do not plan to follow suit.

The Homemakers United Foundation pointed out that on August 31, Tokyo Electric Power Company confirmed that pipes connecting two contaminated water tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were leaking at a rate of 1 drop every 90 seconds, with radiation measured at about 230 millisieverts per hour. Further measurement with more precise instruments found that at one storage tank holding cooling water, beta rays measured 1,800 millisieverts per hour; human exposure to radiation at that intensity would be enough to be fatal in just 4 hours.

Earlier, on August 20 of this year, TEPCO confirmed that at least 300 tons of highly concentrated radioactive water had leaked from the Fukushima plant, and the nuclear event rating was raised from the original Level 1 "anomaly alert event" to Level 3 "serious anomaly phenomenon," indicating that the severity of the radioactive water leak had increased. The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged Japan to disclose the truth.

The Homemakers United Foundation said that TEPCO had already discovered the Fukushima radioactive water leak in early July of this year, but delayed making it public for more than a month. The contaminated groundwater had long since polluted soil and ocean with high radiation levels, causing an unimaginable catastrophe for the environment and marine ecology.

**Fisheries Agency: If There Is New Evidence, We Will Consider Strengthening Random Testing**

The Fisheries Agency of the Council of Agriculture pointed out that at present, aquatic products entering Taiwan, China must pass through two checkpoints: the Fisheries Agency is responsible for random testing aboard fishing vessels, while border testing is handled by the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Tsai Jih-yao, deputy director-general of the Fisheries Agency, said today that currently the Fisheries Agency only tests saury for radiation, because the saury fishing grounds are relatively close to Fukushima, located in the high seas of the northwestern Pacific east of Hokkaido, Japan and south of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, 720 kilometers away from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, no excessive radiation levels have been detected.

As for Taiwan, China importing 160,000 metric tons of saury each year, yet in July and August of this year only 3 samples were taken each month, totaling 6 kilograms, the frequency is too low. Tsai Jih-yao said that all tests so far have been compliant, and taking human resources into consideration, if new evidence shows that the waters polluted by the Fukushima nuclear disaster have expanded, they will consider increasing the frequency of random testing.

**Food and Drug Administration: There's No Need to Announce the Number of Random Tests Every Day, Right?**

Pan Chih-kuan, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Regional Management Center, said that the FDA currently conducts batch-by-batch random testing for 8 major categories of Japanese products: fresh refrigerated fruits and vegetables, frozen fruits and vegetables, live fresh refrigerated aquatic products, frozen aquatic products, dairy products, infant and toddler food, mineral water or drinking water, and seaweed. "This is stricter than Hong Kong, China and South Korea; I don't know how else the frequency should be strengthened." Hong Kong, China tests a large number because its import volume is large.
Pan Chih-kuan pointed out that currently no excessive radiation levels have been detected in imported food, and publishing once a week is very reasonable. "There's no need to tell the public every day how many items we tested, right?!" But if excessive radiation is detected and there are hygiene and safety concerns, they will immediately announce it depending on the situation.

Regarding outside hopes that relevant information on products with radiation residue be published, Pan Chih-kuan responded: if the detected radiation level is within the compliant range, publishing manufacturer information would be unfair to the manufacturer. "Moreover, the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation stipulates that only when a manufacturer violates regulations and products are removed from shelves and recalled is it necessary to publish product information. The FDA will not change its current practice."

**Homemakers United Foundation: A Public Servant Evasion Mentality**

In response to the government's reply, Huang Chia-lin, secretary-general of the Homemakers United Foundation, bluntly called it a "public servant evasion mentality." She questioned that Hong Kong, China's random test results are also within the compliant range, yet it still publishes them every day. Now that everything is done by computer, what difference does it make whether the FDA publishes weekly or daily? In addition, from August 26 to September 1, the number of tested samples was only 251, averaging fewer than 40 per day. Although it is batch-by-batch inspection, the FDA needs to clearly explain how samples are selected for each batch, the number of random tests within a batch, and what the confidence interval is. "South Korea is urging its citizens to eat less imported Japanese food, while only we keep guaranteeing the public, yet we cannot produce clear data."

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Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Worsens; Citizens Demand Expanded Random Testing of Imported Food, Government Refuses

Fisheries Agency: If There Is New Evidence, We Will Consider Strengthening Random Testing

Food and Drug Administration: There's No Need to Announce the Number of Random Tests Every Day, Right?

Homemakers United Foundation: A Public Servant Evasion Mentality

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