Radioactive water won't reach Taiwan for 250 days: experts

The Chinese Post: Radioactive water won't reach Taiwan for 250 days: experts
The radiation-contaminated seawater from the earthquake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plants won't reach Taiwan for at least 250 days. Therefore, there is no need for people in Taiwan to panic over the possible radiation, ocean environment experts said yesterday.

Professor Hu Chien-hua at the Department of Marine Environmental Informatics of the National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) said that the black tide, also known as the Kuroshio current, in the sea off the coast where the Fukushima power plant is located keeps flowing northward. The radiation-contaminated seawater will flow north to North Pacific and then flow to the west coast of the U.S. before finally flowing westward along the equator to Taiwan. “It will take 250 to 365 days for the radiation-contaminated seawater to reach Taiwan. Accordingly, Taiwan's seawater won't suffer any radioactive pollution,” Hu said.

As to whether the radiation pollutants will affect Taiwan's fishing industry, Professor Liao Cheng-hsin of the Department of Environmental Biology and Fisheries Science of the NTOU, said fish products caught by Taiwan's offshore fishing boats would be edible.

Liao said that Taiwan's offshore fishing boats seldom sail to the outer seas of Japan, instead they operate mainly off the Taiwan coast.

He added that although Taiwan's offshore fishing boats operate near Japan when fishing for neon flying squid, mackerel pike and tuna, the public had no cause for concern. This is because the season for squid fishing finished before the crisis began; the mackerel pike fishing season doesn't start till May; and the waters where tuna is fished are far from the Fukushima nuke power plants. “Accordingly, offshore fish caught by local fishermen won't have any radiation contamination,” Liao said.

Vice President Chang Ching-feng of the NTOU said that consumers' fears over possible radiation contamination have cast a cloud over the local fishing industry. To counter this, the government should implement an origin certification system for fish products to protect Taiwan's fishing industry.

In other news, the Central Weather Bureau said Japan hasn't found any leaks of radiation the air recently. Most radiation contaminants were found in soil and water. “Even if an air-borne radiation leak is confirmed, the density once blown to Taiwan would be relatively low and pose no threat to human health,” a CWB official said.

The official stressed that even if Iodine 131 is found in air particles in Taiwan, the density will be too low to cause harm.