The massive Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, caused extensive damage in northeastern Japan, including damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power installation, which resulted in the release of radiation. This report discusses concerns about the potential effects of this released radiation on the U.S. marine environment and resources

Buck, Eugene H.

Folger, Peter

Upton, Harold F.

UNT Digital Library

CRS Report for CongressPrepared for Members and Committees of Congress          Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment Eugene H. Buck Specialist in Natural Resources Policy Harold F. Upton Analyst in Natural Resources Policy Peter Folger Specialist in Energy and Natural Resources Policy April 5, 2011 Congressional Research Service7-5700 www.crs.gov R41751 Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service Summary The massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, caused extensive damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power installation in northeastern Japan, resulting in the release of radiation. Concerns have arisen about the potential effects of this released radiation on U.S. marine environment and resources. Both ocean currents and atmospheric winds have the potential to transport radiation over and into marine waters under U.S. jurisdiction. It is unknown whether marine organisms that take up radiation in Japanese waters may subsequently migrate to where they may be harvested by U.S. commercial fishermen. High levels of radioactive iodine-131 (with a half-life of about 8 days), cesium-137 (with a half-life of about 30 years), and cesium-134 (with a half-life of about 2 years) have been measured in seawater adjacent to the Fukushima Daiichi site.  EPA rainfall monitors in California, Idaho, and Minnesota have detected trace amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium, and tellurium consistent with the Japanese nuclear incident, with current concentrations below any level of concern. It is uncertain how precipitation of radioactive elements from the atmosphere may affect radiation levels in the marine environment. Scientists have stated that radiation in the ocean will very quickly become diluted and should not be a problem beyond the coast of Japan. The same is true of radiation carried by winds. Unless radioactivity from Fukushima finds its way directly to another part of the world through food or other commercial products, it should become sufficiently dispersed over time that it will not prove to be a serious health threat elsewhere. Currently, it appears that radioactive contamination of seafood from the recent nuclear disaster in Japan is not a food safety problem for consumers in the United States. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the damage to infrastructure in Japan has limited food production and associated exports from areas near the Fukushima nuclear facility. Food products from the areas near the Fukushima nuclear facility, including seafood, are also to be tested by FDA before they can enter the U.S. food supply.   Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service Contents Situation .....................................................................................................................................1 Concerns.....................................................................................................................................3 Are there implications for U.S. seafood safety? .....................................................................3 How likely is it that radiation will reach U.S. marine waters, either through ocean currents or atmospheric transport?......................................................................................4 What are the likely responses if radiation is detected? ...........................................................5  Figures Figure 1. Ocean Currents.............................................................................................................1 Figure 2. Atmospheric Radiation Forecast for March 18, 2011.....................................................3  Contacts Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................5  Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service 1 Situation The massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, caused extensive damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power installation in northeastern Japan, resulting in the release of radiation.1 Concerns have arisen about the potential effects of this released radiation on U.S. marine environment and resources. The North Pacific Current is formed by the collision of the Kuroshio Current, running northward off the East coast of Japan in the eastern North Pacific, and the Oyashio Current, running southward from Russia (Figure 1). As it approaches the West coast of North America, the North Pacific Current splits into the southward California Current and the northward Alaska Current. Although these currents have the potential for bringing radiation from the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident to U.S. waters, their flow is slow and no radiation above background levels has yet been detected in marine waters under U.S. jurisdiction.  Seawater is monitored by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) near the discharge points of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Water, with a dose rate of greater than 1,000 millisievert per hour, was confirmed by TEPCO on April 2, 2011, in a pit located next to Fukushima Daiichi’s Unit 2 seawater inlet point. A cracked sidewall of this pit is leaking water from the pit directly into the ocean.2 Analyses of seawater taken from near the discharge from Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4                                                1 For additional background on this incident, see CRS Report R41694, Fukushima Nuclear Crisis, by Richard J. Campbell and Mark Holt. 2 Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log (April 2, 2011), at http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/fukushima020411.html. Figure 1. Ocean Currents  Source: American Meteorological Society. Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service 2 have yielded readings of 130,000 becquerels/liter (bq/l) of iodine-131 (half-life about 8 days), 32,000 bq/l of cesium-137 (half-life about 30 years), and 31,000 bq/l of cesium-134 (half-life about 2 years).3 The occurrence of cesium-137 is of greater concern because of its much longer half-life. The natural radioactivity of seawater is 13 or 14 bq/l, of which 95% comes from potassium-40.4 Atmospheric transport (i.e., winds) also is capable of transporting radiation eastward where it may settle or precipitate into U.S. marine waters (Figure 2).5 The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitor atmospheric radiation. As of April 2, 2011, EPA monitors in California, Idaho, and Minnesota have detected trace amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium, and tellurium in rainwater consistent with the Japanese nuclear incident; to date, concentrations have been far below any level of concern.6 It is unknown whether marine organisms that take up radiation in Japanese waters may subsequently migrate to where they may be harvested by U.S. commercial fishermen. A British scientist reportedly has stated that “[G]iven the scale of the Pacific—the world’s vastest body of water—radioactivity in the sea at Fukushima will be flushed out beyond the local area by tides and currents and dilute to very low levels. It [radiation] will get into the (ocean) food chain but only in that vicinity. Should people in Hawaii and California be concerned? The answer is no.”7 Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution advise that radiation levels in seafood should continue to be monitored, but radiation in the ocean will very quickly become diluted and should not be a problem beyond the coast of Japan. The same is true of radiation carried by winds around the globe. Unless radioactivity from Fukushima finds its way directly to another part of the world through food or other commercial products or a major unanticipated release should occur, it should become sufficiently dispersed over time that it will not prove to be a serious health threat elsewhere.8                                                 3 Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log (March 31, 2011), at http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/fukushima310311.html. 4 Idaho State University, Radioactivity in Nature, at http://fizisist.web.cern.ch/fizisist/funny/NaturalRadioactivity.pdf. 5 Other projections of atmospheric trajectories can be found at http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~tcanty/hysplit/. 6 See http://www.epa.gov/radiation/data-updates.html; also see http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/3724de8571e1b03f8525785c00041a7a%21OpenDocument. 7 Simon Boxall, a lecturer at Britain’s National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton, England, quoted in http://news.discovery.com/earth/japan-seafood-110330.html. 8 See http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=56076&tid=282&cid=94989. Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service 3 Figure 2. Atmospheric Radiation Forecast for March 18, 2011  Source: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, Vienna, Austria. Notes: This forecast shows how weather patterns might be expected disperse radiation from a continuous source in Fukushima, Japan. The forecast does not show actual levels of radiation. The colors correspond to the projected intensity of radiation, with yellow being most intense and progressing to less intensity through the green, blue, to violet end of the spectrum. Concerns  Are there implications for U.S. seafood safety? It does not appear that nuclear contamination of seafood will become a food safety problem for consumers in the United States. The main reasons include • damage from the disaster has limited seafood production in the affected areas, • radioactive material will be diluted before reaching U.S. fishing grounds, and  • seafood imports from Japan are being examined before entry into the United States. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), because of damage from the earthquake and tsunami to infrastructure, few if any food products are being exported from the Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service 4 affected region.9 For example, according to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, the region’s fishing industry has stopped landing and selling fish.10  U.S. fisheries are unlikely to be affected because radioactive material that enters the marine environment will be greatly diluted before reaching U.S. fishing grounds. However, some advocate vigilance, especially for seafood from areas near the damaged nuclear facility. It has been suggested that cesium-137 may move up the food chain and become concentrated in fish muscle or that radiation hot spots may occur.11 The Fisheries Research Agency (Japan) has tested samples from areas south of the damaged nuclear facility and it has been reported that radiation levels are far below the standards set by Japan’s health ministry.12  The most common foods imported from Japan include seafood, snack foods, and processed fruits and vegetables. In 2010, the United States imported 49.0 million pounds of seafood from Japan with a value of $258.9 million.13 The FDA has primary responsibility for the safety of all domestic and imported seafood, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.). The FFDCA requires that all foods be safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. FDA’s general approach to ensuring the safety of seafood imports is based on identifying risks from the production process, from specific types of seafood, and from certain countries or firms. FDA’s import tracking system is being used to identify all shipments of FDA-regulated products from Japan with special attention to shipments from companies within the affected area. On March 25, 2011, an Import Alert was updated for food items from specific regions of Japan, but seafood was not included.14 Food products not included on the Import Alert, but from the areas near the Fukushima nuclear facility, including seafood, are also to be tested by the FDA before they can enter the U.S. food supply. For these products, FDA is to conduct field examinations and collect samples for radionuclide analysis by FDA laboratories.15 FDA also reports that it is increasing surveillance for all food products imported from Japan. How likely is it that radiation will reach U.S. marine waters, either through ocean currents or atmospheric transport? Since radiation has been detected reaching various U.S. locations by atmospheric transport, rainfall is likely to already be introducing radioactive elements from the Fukushima Daiichi accident into U.S. marine waters. Transport by ocean currents is much slower and radiation from                                                9 U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Radiation Safety, March 29, 2011, http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm247403.htm. 10 “Tsukiji wholesaler thinks it may take a year for the market to stabilize,” Reuters, March 23, 2011. 11 Elizabeth Rosethal, “Radiation, Once Free, Can Follow a Tricky Path,” New York Times, March 21, 2011. 12 Frederik Balfour, “Sushi Safe From Japan Radiation as Ocean Dilution Makes Risk Negligible,” Bloomberg, March 31, 2011. 13 U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division, “U.S. Foreign Trade Query,” March 31, 2011, http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/trade/index.html. 14 All products identified by the import alert will not be allowed to enter the United States unless it is shown they are free from radionuclide contamination. 15 FDA, Radiation Safety, March 29, 2011, http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm247403.htm. Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment  Congressional Research Service 5 this source might eventually also be detected in North Pacific waters under U.S. jurisdiction, weeks or even months after its release. What are the likely responses if radiation is detected? If only low levels of radiation are detected, continued monitoring of the situation will be the likely response. In the unlikely event that higher levels of radiation are detected, measures (e.g., removal of contaminated products from commerce) may be taken to prevent or minimize human exposure to the contaminated media.  For background information on radiation and its potential for harm, see CRS Report R41728, The Japanese Nuclear Incident: Technical Aspects, by Jonathan Medalia.  Author Contact Information  Eugene H. Buck Specialist in Natural Resources Policy gbuck@crs.loc.gov, 7-7262  Peter Folger Specialist in Energy and Natural Resources Policy pfolger@crs.loc.gov, 7-1517 Harold F. Upton Analyst in Natural Resources Policy hupton@crs.loc.gov, 7-2264     

Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment

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Effects of Radiation from Fukushima Daiichi on the U.S. Marine Environment

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