Experiment to investigate the amount of cesium taken up by fish from seawater Fukushima

The Fukushima Prefectural Research Institute of Fisheries Resources is working to clarify the problem of radioactive substances exceeding the standard being rarely detected in fish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, even more than 10 years after the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In an attempt to connect the two, we decided to conduct the first domestic experiment in which animals were bred in seawater containing radioactive cesium released in the accident, and the amount of radioactive cesium taken into their bodies over time was investigated.

In Fukushima Prefecture, more than 10,000 food items are inspected annually by the prefecture alone. Radioactive substances exceeding food standards have been detected.

In an attempt to clarify this issue, the Fukushima Prefectural Research Institute of Fisheries Resources raised animals in seawater containing radioactive cesium released in the accident, and investigated how much of it was taken into the body from the seawater over time. The first experiment will be conducted from the 25th.

Specifically, fallen leaves collected from mountains in the prefecture are used to create seawater containing 1 becquerel of cesium-137 per liter, which is equivalent to the concentration near the entrance to the port of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and the lugworms that feed on the fish. breed.

Regarding black soi, a national research institute has shown the results of a survey that there is a high possibility that radioactive materials were taken in the port of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and released.

Since such an experiment is the first in Japan, there is a possibility that fish may be directly taken into the body from seawater in addition to food, so we will also breed fish in the future.

Toru Sakuma, deputy director of the Fukushima Prefectural Research Institute of Fisheries Resources, said, "Since it is not clear how cesium accumulates in fish bodies, we will make more accurate assumptions based on experimental data. will be able to do so,” he said.