Nuclear institute explains on seafood imports from Fukushima

BANGKOK, March 7 (TNA) - The Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT) has confirmed that seafood imported from Fukushima is safe as it undergoes many stages of examination. The institute responded to reports that Thailand was the first country to import fish from Fukushima prefecture, Japan, where a nuclear power plant exploded after the 2011 tsunami. The reports raised concern about possible contamination in imported fish allegedly to be sold at 12 restaurants in Bangkok. TINT executive director Pornthep Nisamaneephong said that after the explosion in Fukishima, the Japanese government stopped fishing in the sea off the prefecture and regularly checked radioactive contamination in fish. Later fishing is permitted there excluding the 10-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The permission applies to the specific fish, the radioactive contamination of which meets Japan’s safety standard which is 10 times stricter than international standard. Mr Pornthep said that any restaurateurs and consumers who had concerns could send suspicious food samples to TINT for examination. (TNA)