Rosselkhoznadzor finds no violations during fish monitoring after Fukushima-1 water discharge

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Russia's plant and animal health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor conducted over 170 examinations of 57 fish samples between August 28 and September 1 as part of its increased radiation control of fish caught near the discharge site of the treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, the department's press service said.

"Rosselkhoznadzor's Primorye interregional veterinary laboratory between August 28 and September 1 conducted 170 examinations of 57 samples of different fish products caught in fishing subareas of Russia's regions. No cases of excess radiation in products have been detected," the press service said.

Specialists from the radiological department and the department for testing food products, food ingredients, water, feed, and biomaterial of the Primorye interregional veterinary laboratory and the Sakhalin branch tested samples of fish caught in the fishing areas of Primorye, the Sakhalin region and the Khabarovsk and Kamchatka Territories.

Rosselkhoznadzor said earlier that it was imposing enhanced radiation control over fish and other seafood imports from Japan. The agency promised to impose restrictive measures on imports, if excess levels of radionuclides are detected in such products.

However, Russian imports of fish products from Japan are negligible, it said.

On August 24, Japan began releasing water used for reactor cooling at the Fukushim-1 NPP into the Pacific Ocean. Senior officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the operation would be safe.